
SECTION II 

General Editor 

EWALD FLUGEL 




Class 2 

Book ^S 

Copyright N" 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



SECTION II 

MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE 



GENERAL EDITOR 

EWALD FLUGEL, Ph. D. 

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH PHILOLOGY IN 
LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY 



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MIDDLE ENGLISH 
HUMOROUS TALES IN 
L VERSE 



EDITED BY 

GEORGE H. Mcknight, Ph. d, 

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, OHIO 
STATE UNIVERSITY 



^ BOSTON, U. S. A., AND LONDON 

^ D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 



There have already been published in Section . 

ne Owl and the Nightingale — Edited by Profes. 
John Edwin Wells, Hiram College, Ohio. 

The Fear I — Edited by Professor Charles G. Osgood, 
Princeton University. 

Earlj Sixteenth Century Lyrics — Edited by Professor 
Frederick M, Padelford, University of Washing- 
ton. 



Copyright, 191 3, 
By D. C. Heath & Co. 



I F3 



//, 



CI.A;i5432 5 



I^reface 



I WISH to offer due apology for the elaborate critical 
etting provided for three simple tales. It cannot be as- 
sumed that introduction, notes, and glossary will add to 
the entertainment afforded by these stories. The justifica- 
tion for the editor"* s work lies in the fact that these humor- 
ous tales have a serious interest. They are interesting not 
merely as affording specimens of the language of an ear- 
lier period, but as illustrating what may be called the 
comedy-relief element in the literature of an age that pro- 
duced the Cursor Mundi and the Ayenhite of Innvit, and 
as affording an idea of the mode of diffusion of popular 
tales and the use made of them by literature. 

I wish it were possible more fully to share the pleasures 
of the chase enjoyed in tracing the courses followed by 
these three stories. The hunt for sources and parallels has 
led, now into arid compilations like those by John of 
Bromyard and Vincent of Beauvais, again into the midst 
of the luxuriant oriental fictions of Nachshebi and Soma- 
deva, again among the fresh folk-tales of Saxon, Breton, 
Finn, Berber, and American Negro. I realize that the 
pleasures of the hunt are not easily communicable, but it is 
my hope that some of the trophies of the hunt, mounted 
and arranged in the introduction to this volume, may have 
a scientific value. 

In the texts of the present volume the capitalization and 
the punctuation are modern, except in the case of proper 
names, in which the manuscript form has been reproduced. 
Abbreviations also have been expanded. In other respects 
it has been my aim to reproduce the manuscript texts 



\ 



VI 



|0rrface 



exactly. With this in view I have collated the proofs with 
rotographic copies of the manuscripts. The glossary aims 
to be exhaustive, including all the words and forms of 
words in the three texts. In the introduction the discussion 
of the language in each text has been made brief because 
of the full lists of forms collected in the glossary. 

It is my pleasure to acknowledge courtesies shown me 
at the Harvard University Library, the Cornell University 
Library, and the British Museum Library, while I was 
making preliminary studies in the preparation of this book. 
I also wish to acknowledge suggestions for notes received 
from Professors J. M. Hart and W. Strunk, Jr., of Cor- 
nell University, and from Professor F. Tupper, Jr., of 
the University of Vermont, and helpful suggestions in the 
preparation of the manuscript as well as assistance in re- 
vising the proofs, from Professor Fliigel, general editor of 
the series. 

G. H. McK. 

Columbus, O., June^ ^9^3* 



Contents 

Introduction ix 

Dame Siriz i 

The Fox and Wolf in the Well ... 25 

Sir Cleges 38 

Notes 61 

Bibliography 81 

Glossary 93 



3!nttoDuctton 



Or me convient tel chose dire 
Doi^t je vos puisse fere rire. 
Quar je sai bien, ce est la pure, 
Que de sarmun n'aves vos cure 
Ne de cors seint oir la vie. 
De ce ne vos prent nule envie, 
Mes de tel chose qui vose plese. 

Roman de Renard, Prol. to Branch IV. 

The Humorous Element in Middle English 
Narrative Literature 

Narrative literature in English before the Norman 
Conquest expresses the ideals of an aristocratic form of 
society. It is rich in tales of heroic valor and saintly 
fortitude, which are uniformly dignified in manner and 
elevated in tone. There has recently been brought to 
light evidence ' of a taste less severe, in the form of 
comic stories preserved from oblivion because they served 
as material for experiments in Latin versification. But 
there is no evidence that these more trivial tales formed 
a part of the repertory of the dignified scop. 

In the centuries immediately following the Norman 
Conquest, literature in the English language can hardly 
be said to have had an independent development. In the 
main it reflects the fashions prevailing in the contempo- 

I W. p. Ker, On the History of the Ballads^ IIOO-1500, pp. IJ, 14, and 
footnote. (Repr. from Proc. of Brit, Acad. vol. iv.) London, 1910. 



X 3|ntroDuction 

rary writings in French. Hence it is that one wishing 
to find the source of literary tendencies in English during 
this period, must look in French literature. 

The literature in French in the period following the 
Norman Conquest was much more broadly representative 
of the different sides of human life than that in Anglo- 
Saxon had been. If we narrow our attention to narra- 
tive, we find, corresponding to the dignified English epic 
tales and legendary narratives, similarly dignified French 
Chansons de geste, courtly romances, and saintly legends. 
But along with the Chanson de Roland zxidi its class and 
the romances of Chretien de Troyes and of his school, 
there flourished tales less conventional in form and re- 
flecting the gay and the humorous side of humanity. 

These less serious tales seem to have owed their origin 
in great part to a spirit of revolt ^ against the rigidity of the 
ideals of chivalry and of religion and against the stiffness 
and formality of prevailing literary conventions. This spirit 
of revolt, which in lyric poetry produced the Goliardic 
songs and in connection with the hturgical drama pro- 
duced the Feast of Fools and the Prose of the AsSy 
made itself distinctly felt in narrative literature. Already 
in the Pelerinage de Charlemagne, of the last half of 
the eleventh century, there is a spirit of burlesque, and 
in the course of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries there 
came into being a series of literary productions quite an- 
tagonistic to the contemporary chivalrous productions. 
The gallantry that informs the lyrics of the troubadours 
and the romances of the Round Table has its counter- 
part in the keen, often savage, ridicule of women that 

I Cf. W. Pater, The Renaissance^ pp. I, 26. 



31ntroauttion xi 

forms the subject matter of an important body of French 
satirical writings. In a similar manner the reaction from 
the solemn piety of the saintly legends and devout tales 
leads to a series ' of burlesque writings such as the Mar- 
tyre de saint Bacchus, the Miracles de saint Tortu et 
de saint Hareng, or the Fabliaus de Coquaigne. 

This gayer spirit manifests itself in another way in 
the attention paid to the more popular elements of con- 
temporary story. The trouvere, no longer interested ex- 
clusively in the themes of court Hfe or of the church, 
turned his attention also to situations in every day life 
and to the stories of contemporary folk-lore. The result 
was the production of two highly interesting sets of 
tales, the fabliaux and the branches of the Roman de 
Renard, The material o{i\it fabliaux is derived in part 
from literary collections of stories used for conveying 
moral instruction, but much more often from tales in 
popular oral circulation, whether literary or oral in ulti- 
mate origin. The beast-epic tales also are derived some- 
times, directly or indirectly, from the literary fable col- 
lections, but much more often from the animal tales of 
popular lore. The two sets of stories are alike, not only 
in a similar popular source of material, but in a similar 
manner of handling. Both in beast-tale and in fabliau 
there is manifest the inclination to emphasize the human 
or individual interest rather than the spiritual content, to 
tell the story for the story's sake. In the branches of 
the Roman de Renard, instead of the earlier literary 
type, the fable, which is little more than the concrete 
expression of an abstract idea, an animated proverb, we 

I Cf. J. Bedier, Les Fabliaux^ p. 363. 



xii 3IntroDttction 

have a new literary genre with distinctly individual char- 
acters; in the fabliaux^ instead of stories like those of 
the Disciplina Cler kalis , or the exempla of Jacques de 
Vitry or Etienne de Bourbon, used in literature princi- 
pally to convey moral instruction, we have stories told 
for their own intrinsic interest, edged with satire, and 
embellished with much realistic and humorous detail. 
The two extremes in the literary tendencies of the period, 
so well represented in the two parts of the Roman de la 
Rose, the idealism of Guillaume de Lorris contrasting 
with the cynicism of Jean de Meun, finds further illus- 
tration in the similar contrast between the excessive 
idealism of the Round Table romances on the one hand 
and, on the other, the reahsm combined with burlesque 
in the Roman de Renard and the realism combined with 
satire in \^t fabliaux. 

If the tendencies of courtly French literature are re- 
flected in English writings, it is to be expected that the 
literature of reaction and revolt also should have its re- 
presentatives in English. The number of such produc- 
tions in English is not great but is fairly representative 
of the several classes in French. Burlesque is represented 
in English by The Order of Fair-Ease, an account of 
an order of monks exhibiting all the characteristic monk- 
ish vices, and by the Land of Cokaygne, a description of a 
moral topsy-turvy land, or mock paradise, ^ in which — 

Al is dai nis ^er no ni^te 
}per nis baret no^er strif 
Nis Jjer no dep ac tMcr lif 

I A similar theme is later handled in the seventeenth century in " An 
Invitation to Lubberland, with an account of the great Plenty of that 
fruitful country," repr. from the Roxburghe Ballads by John Ashton,^M- 
mouvy IVit^ and Satire of the Seventeenth Century^ p. 34. 



IflntroUttction xiH 

Nis \>er flei, fle, no lowse 

In cloj?, in toune, bed no house 

per hep riuers grate znd fine, 
Of oile, melk, honi, znd wine. 
Water s^ruip per to no ping 
Bot to sijt znd to waussing. 

Of the beast-epic tales English literature before 
Chaucer can offer but one representative. England, if 
we may believe Mr. Jacobs,^ was the *'home of the 
Fable during the early Middle Age, and the centre of 
dispersion whence the Mediaeval ^sop spread through 
Europe." The contributions of the Englishmen, Odo 
of Sherington and John of Sheppey, to medieval fable 
literature are well known. It is equally well known that 
Marie de France, in her famous collection of fables, and 
Nicole Bozon, in the beast tales of his Contes Moralises , 
drew largely from English sources. Throughout the Eng- 
lish literature of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 
for example in the Ay en bite of Inwyty in Piers Plowmatiy 
and in the Gesta Romanoruniy fables appear not infre- 
quently. Further, Lydgate is the author of a collection 
of seven fables, and the Scotchman, Robert Henryson, 
composed a collection consisting of a prologue and 
thirteen fables, which in interest vie with the tales of 
the beast-epic. In the light of these facts it seems strange 
that we should have from the Middle English period, 
before the Noune Preestes Tale, but the solitary speci- 
men of the beast-epic tale in the story of Fox and Wolf 
included in the present volume, and that the other 
captivating tales of the French Roman de Renard should 

I J. W. Jacobs, The Fables of Miof^ I. pp. xvii., l8i. 



xiv IflntroOttction 

not appear in English until the end of the fifteenth 
century, when Caxton translated them from the Flem- 
ish. 

That tales of the kind forming the subject-matter 
of ih.t fabliaux circulated among the English population 
we have evidence in contemporary allusions. Oxford 
University in 1292 issued a warning against the ** can- 
tilenas sive fabulas de omasiis vel luxoriosis aut ad libidi- 
nem sonantibus." ' In Piers Plowman and elsewhere 
there are frequent, usually disapproving, allusions ^ to tales 
of the kind. And have we not the evidence afforded by 
Chaucer in the kind of tales assigned by him to his 
characters of lower station? That many of the stories 
of French fabliaux not extant in English in fabliau 
form were well known among the English population, 
is further shown by the existence of English ballad ver- 
sions of the French tales. For example, 3 the English 
ballad of Queen Eleanor^ s Confession tells the story of 
the ¥rQTic\i fabliau, Du Chevalier qui fist safemme con- 
fesse (Montaiglon-Raynaud, i. 16); and the ballad. 
The Boy and the Mantle, handles the theme of the fa- 
bliau, Le Mantel mautaille (iii. 55). Many of the 
fabliau themes also appear in literature in various col- 
lections of stories in EngUsh. Within the framework of 

1 Cited by Brandl, PauVs GrundrisSy II. p. 629. 

2 Piers Plowman (ed. Slceat), A I. 48-50, B IV. I15, V. 413, XIII. 228 
ff., 304 ff., 352 ff., CVII. 185-186, 194, CVIII. 22,90-96, CIX. 49-50. Cf. 
also the allusions in Cursor Mundi, etc., quoted below, p. xviii. 

3 Other English ballade with themes of the fabliau sort are : Our Good- 
man (Child, 274) ; Get up and bar the Door (275) j The Friar in the IVell 
(276), cf. the later English fabliau^ The PTright^s Chaste Wife ; The 
IVife wrapped in JVether^s Skin (277), cf. the later English fabliau^ The 
IVife in Morel's Skin ; The Farmer's Curst Wife (278) ; and The Crafty 
Farmer (283). The ruses employed in The Lochmaben Harper (192) and 
Dick 0' the Cow (185) remind one of fabliaux. 



3flntroDuction xv 

the Seven Sages are included several such tales in verse, 
and in the Middle English Disciplina Clericalism the 
philosopher makes use of several in the instruction of 
his son. The concrete methods of conveying moral in- 
struction in use during the thirteenth and fourteenth 
centuries supplied a use for humorous tales, and the 
Gesta Romanorum, that compendium of tales ingen- 
iously, often naively, applied to the conveyance ' of 
moral doctrine, contains tales that serve as the subject 
matter for fabliaux. The narrationes that formed so con- 
spicuous a feature of the sermons of the period were 
not always grave in tone, and books for moral instruc- 
tion, such as Robert Mannyng's work of forbidding title, 
the Handlyng Synney contain tales that are decidedly 
diverting in character. 

To the superiority in vitality, then, of story collec- 
tions over isolated stories and to the concrete methods 
of the medieval preacher we owe a number of Mid- 
dle English humorous tales in verse. But of the single 
narrative interludes, if we may speak of t\iQ fabliaux as 
such, the comedy numbers in the minstrel repertory, 
we have few surviving specimens before Chaucer. Such 
productions were probably ephemeral, only occasionally 
regarded as worthy the parchment and the labor of writ- 
ing. In fact the nzmt fabliau seems to have stood for the 
transitory in literature. Henri d' Andeli,^ in writing a se- 
rious tale, remarks, ** Cepoeme n'etait pasun fabliau — 
il I'ecrit sur du parchemin, et non sur des tablettes de 
cire." At all events, corresponding to about one hun- 

I For example the theme of the Sir Cleges appears in a tale of the 
Gesta Romanorum. 
1 Bedier, off. cit. p. 38. 



xvi ^Introduction 

dred and fifty ' French fabliaux of the period between 
1 1 5 9 and 1 3 20, English ^ literature has but little to show. 
Besides the Dame Siriz, included in the present vol- 
ume, the only humorous tale in verse before the time 
of Chaucer dealing exclusively with human beings is 
the Pennyworth of Wit, Even this story, although it 
handles a well known fabliau 3 motive, handles it in 
such a way as to make classification uncertain. The em- 
phasis is thrown on the lesson rather than on the inci- 
dents. The characters are not distinctly portrayed; they 
are not even distinguished by personal names. Except 
in somewhat greater fullness of detail there is little to 
distinguish this story commonly classed as 2. fabliau from 
a dry exemplum or a barren apologue. 

Somewhat later in English literature, stories of the kind 
that formed the subject matter of i\vt fabliaux are more 
frequent. A great deal of emphasis has been laid of late 4 
upon Chaucer's contribution to the development of the 
fabliau in English and on the other hand to Chaucer's 
indebtedness in narrative art to the earlier writers of 
fabliaux. Besides producing his fabliau masterpieces, 

1 Bedier, o/>. cit.^ in his treatment of the subject includes 147. 

2 Several of the French fabliaux were composed in England. Cf. Bedier, 
i>p. cit. pp. 436-440. 

3 It forms the subject of the French fabliau^ De la Bourse Pleine de Sens 
and of the German metrical tale of Ehefrau und Bulerin {Gesammtaben- 
teur^ no. XXXV.). In Middle English the story appears in two versions : 
a longer version, A Pennyworth of Wit (printed by Kolbing, Englische 
Studien^ VII. Ill, and elsewhere), and a shorter version, How a Mer- 
chaunde dyd hys wyfe betray (printed by Kolbing, loc. cit. and elsewhere). 
The story was also popular in a later, chap-book version, of which numer- 
ous editions are to be found in the chap-book collections of the Harvard 
University library and the British Museum library. The latest edition that 
I have seen was in an Edinburgh bookstore. It was published by T. John- 
son, Falkirk, 1815. 

4 See the articles by H. S. Canby and W. M. Hart referred to in the 
Bibliography. 



jflntrotittction xvii 

Chaucer seems to have stimulated the production of Eng- 
lish /^^//^2/;^r by, others. To Chaucer's influence must 
probably be referred Adam Cobsam's The Wright'' s 
Chaste Wife, The Lady Prioress and her Suitors, for- 
merly attributed to Lydgate, the tale of The Pardoner and 
the Tapster, which served as an introduction to the 
pseudo- Chaucerian Tale of Beryn, and the Freiris of 
Berwik, attributed to Dunbar. Besides these tales with 
some degree of literary pretension, the fifteenth century 
was also familiar with certain more popular stories re- 
lated in subject matter at least to the fabliaux. This 
class of ' bourdes/ as they were commonly called, in- 
cludes the tale of Sir Corneus, or the CokewoW s Dance y 
the *^ god borde *' of The King and the Barker, and 
the Tale of the Basin, Later on, also, the early printers, 
Wynkyn de Worde, William Copland, and others, 
catered to the taste of their time by publishing editions of 
humorous metrical tales in the form of booklets or tracts. 
To this means of preservation we owe the survival of 
a number of later tales of the fabliau order. These 
** Mery lestes,'* as they were called, include the tales 
of Dane Hewe of Leicestre, the Frere and the Boy, the 
Miller of Abyngton, the Vnluckie Firmentie, the Wyfe in 
Mor relies Skin, and How the Plowman lerned his Pater 
Noster, In imitation of these stories the youthful Sir 
Thomas More composed his Mery lest how a Sergeaunt 
wold lerne to be a Frere, 

Besides the beast-epic tale, the Vox and the Wolf, 
and the fabliau, the Dame Siriz, the present volume 
contains a third humorous tale in verse, the Sir Cleges, 
This story is not easy to classify, consisting, as it docs. 



xviii 3Introtiuction 

of a humorous incident combined with a devout tale to 
make a Round Table romance. The story of the 'blows 
shared ' is of the kind that form the themes o^ fabliaux ^ 
but the form of the story as a whole and the spirit in 
which it is told are not those o^ fabliaux. The story 
is a unique specimen in English, a humorous metrical 
romance. 

A partial explanation of the smallness in the number 
of Middle English humorous tales is to be found no doubt 
in the opposition due to English puritanism. The evi- 
dence of Chaucer in this connection is well known. 
Chaucer's '*gentils" object to tales of **ribaudye/' 
and Chaucer himself apologizes for the *' cherles tale" 
of the Miller and promises in compensation — 

. . . ynowe, grete and smale, 

Of storial thyng that toucheth gentilesse, 

And eek moralitee and hoolyncsse. 

The author of Piers Plowman also repeatedly' con- 
demns *' harlotries," as he calls the low stories, at- 
tributing them to the '^deueles disours." Allusions of 
a condemnatory nature are not infrequent elsewhere. 
The author of Cursor Mundi says : * — 

As ^eddyngis, japis, and folies 
And alle harlotries and ribaudies, 
Bot to here of Cristis Passioun 
To many a man it is ful laytsom. 

In one of the lyrical 3 poems appears the reference: — 
JJah told beon tales vntoun in toune. 

1 See footnote to p. xiv above. For a description of the professional 
purveyors of such tales, see Fien 'Plowman (ed. Skeat) B XIII. 226, 237, 

2 MS. Ashmole 60, f. 4, 5. Quoted by Halliwell, Thornton Romances^ 
p. 261. 

3 Harl. MS. 2253 (ed. Boddeker), W. L. iv. 37 (p. 153). 



3fIntroi)uction xix 

At the opening of the romance Octavian ^ appear the 
two following significant stanzas: — 

Bot fele men be of swyche manere, 
Goodnesse when hy scholden here, 
Hy nylled naght lesste with her ere, 

To lerny wyt, 
But a8 a swyn with lowryng chcr 

All gronne he sytte. 

And fele of hem casted a cry 

Of thyng f>at fallyd to rybaudy, 

That noon of hem, that sytte hym by, 

May haue no lest. 
God schylde all thys company 

Fram swych a gest. 

Evidently the purveyor of reputable tales felt the com- 
petition. Ribald tales were plentiful enough, but they 
seem not to have appealed strongly to the class of people 
for whom literary versions were produced in English. 
The gayety oi P esprit gaulois in the Yrtnch fa bliaux^ 
and the tragic quality imparted to the Italian descend- 
ants of these tales, have often been commented upon. 
From the small number of examples it is hardly safe to 
draw any broad generalizations concerning the English 
fabliaux. It seems possible, however, to discover the 
influence of English puritanism affecting the quahty as 
well as the number of English stories. M. Bedier ^ cites 
one of the YxtncV fabliaux which was composed by an 
Englishman. In i\i\s fabliau of English origin, the broad 
story of the French Bourgeoise d^ Orleans is provided 

1 Octavian (ed. Sarazzin), South, version, stanzas 2, 3. 

2 0/». cit. p. 300. 



XX 3fItttroi)uctton 

with chivalrous setting and moral tone. We cannot say 
of the English of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth 
centuries what Tacitus said of the early Teutons, that 
no one laughed at vice. But we can say that it was very 
unusual for them to laugh with vice. In all but one of 
the humorous stories mentioned above, before Chaucer 
and after Chaucer, the fun is at the expense of vice. 
The one exception is the Dame Siriz, In several of the 
other tales the fun is coarser, but in no other do we see 
a representation of vice triumphant. One of the greatest 
of Chaucer's literary contemporaries, in a masterpiece. 
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight y read morality into 
Arthurian romance. The same preoccupation with moral 
content did not work out as happily in some cases. In the 
Sir ClegeSy a comic incident loses in humorous effect on 
account of the serious setting provided. Inthe Pennyworth 
of Wit, a tale which in French and particularly in 
German is enlivened by boisterous scenes and diverting 
details is quite stripped of these lighter elements. The 
tone is more that of Wulfstan than of Chaucer. The 
puritan spirit is obvious. The homelier ideals of the 
middle-class English-speaking element would not tolerate 
some of the liberties permitted in the more highly cul- 
tured French-speaking circles. Perhaps the inferior cul- 
ture of the English-speaking class helps to explain why 
in these tales the moral is made so baldly prominent, why 
finer weapons were not used. 

The three stories in the present volume will serve to 
illustrate the humorous element in Middle English narra- 
tive literature. The first two will illustrate what may be 
called the anti-chivalrous element in medieval literature, 



jflntroliuction xxi 

the kind of material to which Chaucer turned with profit 
in his later years when he was emancipated from the 
formal conventions of contemporary chivalry. A real 
appreciation of the work of Chaucer demands a know- 
ledge of the cruder beginnings in a kind of writing at 
which he excelled. 

Dame Siriz ^ 

The story of Dame Siriz is perhaps one such as the 
world would very willingly let die. In fact the modern 
world has not found the story a congenial one. A story 
which, besides being known in several Latin versions, 
appeared also in the vernacular literatures of England, 
France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Iceland, to say no- 
thing of the oriental versions in Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, 
Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit, a story which had a place 
in the stock of stories drawn upon by medieval preach- 
ers, and in the repertoire of medieval secular story 
tellers or minstrels, which was to be found in the fable 
collections of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain 
and England, and which supplied the story for dramatic 
productions in Denmark, Germany, France and Eng- 
land, is hardly known at the present day except to anti- 
quarians. The theme of the story is in some respects 
repellent to the modern mind. Yet a tale once so widely 
known has an historic interest, and the history of the 
tale in its migrations is entertaining and instructive. 
Moreover, in the history of English literature the story 

I The form Siriz 'is preferred, because that is the form used in the title 
in the manuscript. That the pronunciation, however, was Sirith is proved 
by the rimes. 



xxii 31ntrotiuction 

of Dame Siriz has a claim to attention because it is the 
earliest representative of its class, the fabliau, in fact 
the only English composition designated in the original 
title as a fabliau j and because its story is that of the 
earliest play with secular theme in English literature, — 
according to Creizenach,^ '^ one of the best products of 
the medieval comic muse." Such considerations may 
serve as the apology for the appearance of the story in 
the present book. 

There has been much controversy in recent years 
concerning the provenience of popular stories. In par- 
ticular the theory of Benfey and his school that India 
was the great repository of popular stories, and that 
from India stories were distributed into other coun- 
tries, has been sharply attacked.^ In this connection the 
story of Dame Siriz is of interest and seems to be one 
instance in support of the theory of Indian, or at least 
oriental, origin. 

It has long been recognized that this story is essen- 
tially oriental in character. Reduced to its more general 
terms, the story runs as follows: — A young man loves 
a lady. A procuress wins his suit for him by exhibiting 
to the lady a bitch, usually a weeping bitch. This bitch, 
the procuress asserts, was once a lady, but she has been 
thus transformed 3 because under circumstances similar to 

1 W. Creizenach, Geschichte des neueren Dramas^ I. 454. 

2 Cf. J. Bedier, Les Fabliaux. 

I A transformation of a woman into a bitch appears in an Arabic ver- 
sion of the story of the' Three Wishes.' {Frcytzg., ^rabum proverbia, I, 
687, quoted by Liebrecht, Orient and Occident.,111. 378.) A similar story is 
cited by R. Bassett {Rev. des trad, pop, xv. 150). In a Turkish story {Plai- 
sir apres la Peine^ trad. J, A. Decourdemanche, Paris, 1896, pp. 113 ff.), 
a woman is converted into a mule by a man with the power of sorcery, be- 
cause she rejected his love overtures. 



3Introl>uction xxiii 

those in which the lady addressed is placed, she refused 
to yield to overtures of love. The idea of transforma- 
tion ' seems to be rooted in the oriental idea of me- 
tempsychosis. 

A priori evidence, then, seems to point to an orien- 
al origin for this tale. Corroborative evidence is to be 
found in an examination of the facts in the history of 
the story. In Indian literature the story appears in two 
versions. In the Katha Sarit Sagara,^ or ** Ocean of 
the Streams of Story," composed by Somadeva Bhatta 
in the early part of the twelfth century a. d., the story 
appears as a subordinate element in another story, which 
itself appears in various versions in oriental and in occi- 
dental literature, the story of the man who has a talis- 
man — in this particular case, a red lotus given by the 
god, Siva — by which he may recognize any unfaith- 
fulness on the part of his wife. In the story of Somadeva, 
four merchants undertake to test the faithfulness of the 
wife and have recourse to a female ascetic who makes 
use of the ruse of the weeping bitch. In this case the 
ruse is unsuccessful, and the suitors are subjected to indig- 
nities. The fact must not be lost sight of that the weep- 
ing bitch incident here is a minor one in an independ- 
ent story, and that relatively this version is not early. I 

Another Indian version 3 of the story is the one in 

1 Transformations of human beings into beasts are, however, by no 
means unknown to occidental literature. For instance, think of the story 
of Circe, of the werwolves, of the Golden Assof Apuleius, of the unfriendly 
stepmothers of medieval story. 

2 English translation by C. H. Tawney, Calcutta, 1880, vol. i. pp.85- 
91. j 

I Qukasaptati^ Textus Simplicior^ transl. into German by R. Schmidt, 
Kiel, 1894 i Textus Ornaiiory transl. into German by R. Schmidt, Stutt- 
gart, 1899. 



xxiv JdntroDuction 

the ^ukas aptati y or '^Seventy Tales of a Parrot." It is 
the second tale of the collection, and here appears inde- 
pendently. In this version of the story, a young man, 
Vira by name, loves the princess ^a9iprabha. His 
mother, Ya^odevi, exhibits to ^a^iprabha a dog w^hich, 
she asserts, in a former existence was a sister to herself 
and to ^a^iprabha, but has been born as a dog in the 
present existence on account of her chastity. Moved 
by her fears, the princess is induced to grant her love to 
Vira. 

From the Qukasaptati ' this tale seems to have found 
its way into the Book of Sindibady^ the oriental version 
of the Seven Sages. In the Book of Sindibad the second 
tale of the fourth vizier has affinity with two tales of 
the (^ukasaptati. It seems to be the result of a fusion 
of the first and second tales of the Indian collection. In 
the first of these tales a go-between has persuaded a 
lady to accept the love of a suitor, but, unable to find 
her client, by mistake she brings the lady's^husband in- 
stead. The lady, with ready wit, lays the blame on her 
husband and says she has tested him and proved him 
unfaithful. Only after protracted supplication is the hus- 
band restored to grace. It will be noted that the first 
part of this tale is Hke the second tale in the use of a go- 
between, and it is not difficult to see how in this case 
fusion might be the result of confusion. 

Thus combined, the story of ^ The Go-between and 
the dog' and that of * The Libertine Husband,' itself 

1 Cf. D. Comparetti, Researches respecting the Book of Sindibad^tTZnsL 
by Coote, Folk Lore Society^ London, 1882. 

2 For a table showing the contents of the different versions of the Book 
of Sindibad^ see Bedier, Les Fabliaux^ pp. 136, 137. 



3Introtiuction xxv 

well known in occidental as well as in oriental literature, 
appear in all the oriental versions of the Seven Sages 
except the late ^ Persian Sindibad Ndma, in which the 
two tales are distinct. The various versions of the tale 
in the diiFerent oriental versions of the Seven Sages 
differ among themselves in details, but as a group tell a 
tale distinct from either Indian version. Perhaps the 
most striking point of difference between the Indian 
versions and those of the Book of Sindibad is in the cause 
of the transformation from woman to bitch. In both In- 
dian versions a woman in one existence has been re-born 
as a bitch because she did not satisfy the elements of her 
nature. In all the versions of the Book of Sindibad the 
woman has been transformed within the present exist- 
ence because: ^ — (Syriac version) the young man ^^ cried 
unto God concerning her, and she was transformed"; 
(Greek version) the young man *' cursed her and she 
was changed to a dog on the spot"; (Spanish version) 
the young man ** cursed her, and straightway she be- 
came a she-dog"; (Hebrew version) the young man 
*' called to his God concerning her, and she was turned 
into a bitch"; (Arabic version translated by Scott) 
the lover, a Jewish sorcerer, enraged, *^ by magic 
transformed her into a she-dog"; (Persian Sindibad 
Nama, of the 14th century) the lady^ had been 
changed into that form as a punishment for rejecting a 
lover's suit. 

The tale of < Go-between and Weeping-Bitch ' w^hich 
occurs in all the versions of the oriental Seven Sages , 

1 Cf. Eisner, p. 7. See Bibliography. 

2 An analysis of the Syndibad Nama by Prof. Forbes Falconer is in- 
cluded by W. A. Clouston in his Book of Sindibad^ pp. 5 ff. 



xxvi 31ntroliuction 

the Book of Sindibady seems to have been lost' in the 
migration of that collection of stories from orient to 
Occident ; it does not appear in any of the extant oc- 
cidental versions of the Seven Sages, ^ The oldest west- 
ern version of the story is contained in the famous 
story collection by the converted Spanish Jew, Petrus 
Alphonsus, the Disciplina Clericalis, and it was usu- 
ally by means of this well-known collection that the 
* Weeping-Bitch ' story became known to the countries 
of Western Europe. Petrus himself says that he made 
use of Arabic writers (Elsner,3 op, cit, p. 24) and his 
version shows a striking similarity to the original Arabic 
version, notably in the fact that in both the lover falls ill 
and the procuress comes to him instead of his seeking 
her out. The most important change made by Petrus 
in his handling of the tale seems to be due to his aim to 
adapt the story to a Christian public. For that reason 
he emphasizes the illness of the lover and represents 
the go-between as saying that the lady of her fictitious 
story sinned in that she caused the illness of a fellow man 
and that for this fault God punished her (Elsner,3 op, 
cit, p. 26). 

In the Disciplina Clericalis,^ besides the significant 
modification in the cause of the transformation, there are 

1 Comparetti assumes that the loss occurred in the course of oral trans- 
mission. There seems, however, to be evidence that versions of the Seven 
Sages containing the weeping-bitch story were not unknown in the West. 
Cf. the versions of the tale by Herolt, by J. de Vitry, also the Dame Sirix 
and the Italian version discussed below. 

2 For a table showing the contents of the different versions of the occi- 
dental Seven Sages^ see Bedier, of>. cit. p. 1 36. 

i See Bibliography. 

4 Two modern editions of the Latin version : (i) Soc. det Bibliophiles^ 
Paris, 1825; (2) F. W. Val. Schmidt, Berlin, 1827. In these two editions, 
the content is the same, though there is difference in phraseology. 



3fIntroDuction xxvii 

some minor modifications. To the invention of Petrus 
are to be attributed peculiarities, which are summarized 
by Eisner as follows : — ( i ) The husband, on his depart- 
ure, trusts implicitly in the fidelity of his wife; (2) The 
lover, although ill, goes out, by which means he meets 
the go-between; (3) The lover is at first reluctant to 
reveal the cause of his trouble, and when he does so, 
does not ask for assistance; (4) The go-between keeps her 
bitch without food to make it ready to eat the mustard 
preparation; (5) The go-between, after giving the lady 
advice, craftily adds, ** If I had known the love of the 
young man for my daughter, she should not have been 
transformed. ' ' Through these modifications the action 
of the story gains in verisimilitude and the characters in 
distinctness. 

Upon this version by Petrus Alphonsus seem to be 
dependent, to some ^ extent at least, all the other occi- 
dental versions of the story. Eisner, in his dissertation, 
has compared the details in the different versions and 
has attempted to show the interrelations. His conclu- 
sions are not always convincing because he has laid too 
much stress upon differences in minor details, which are 
subject to change at the caprice of the individual writer 
and to modification to suit the purpose for which the 
story is used. 

In the history of the occidental versions of this story 
it has seemed to the present writer more interesting and 
profitable to consider the different uses to which the 
story has been put and the various literary tendencies 

I Direct Influence of an oriental version is apparent in some cases. See 
below. 



xxviii 3Introt)uction 

illustrated, than to make the attempt, necessarily vain, 
to show the exact interrelations between the score and 
more of different versions. 

In addition to the Latin version, or versions,^ of the 
Disciplina there are prose translations extant in the ver- 
nacular languages of France, of Spain, of Iceland, and 
of England. These translations are, in general, close, 
but with minor variations in detail. For example, the 
procuress is honorably received by the lady; in the Latin 
version, pro magnae religionis specie ; in the French prose 
version, pour sa simple conversation. In the Spanish ver- 
sion the bitch is penned up during its foodless period, 
a feature that persists in the later Spanish fable version. 
In the Latin, French, Spanish, and Icelandic ver- 
sions, the bitch is given to eat bread combined with 
mustard; in the EngHsh version the ^^old wif" gave 
to the '^fastyng hound" ** brode inowogh with anoy- 
noun froted." Such modifications in the story, how- 
ever, are exceptional. 

More significant in the history of the story are the 
modifications in the French metrical versions of the Dis- 
ciplina, entitled Le Chastoiement (Tun Pere a son Fils. 
One of these versions is included in the Barbazan- 
Meon collection o{ Fabliaux et Contes. The 'Weeping- 
Bitch ' story in this collection occupies 148 verses, and 
in general follows closely the Latin version. The most 
striking departure is the fact that the young man in the 
story of the go-between not only fell ill, but died from 
grief. The other French metrical version shows more 

I The two versions extant differ in phraseology, but do not differ in the 
details of the story. 



3[lntroDttctton xxix 

striking features of difference. In this version,' which 
is nearly twice as long as the one just mentioned, the 
young man at first, not content with messages, tries a 
personal interview. As in the other metrical version the 
period of the dog's fast is three days, instead of two 
as in the Latin version. But more important than 
minor differences in detail is the difference in tone. In 
this longer metrical version the young man in love is 
made an exponent o^ T amour cortois, and the extended 
soliloquies of the young lover (vv. 57-119, 146-190) 
as well as other details, are quite in the manner of the 
school of Chretien de Troyes. 

The tales of the Disciplina Clericalis purport to be for 
the purpose of conveying instruction to a young man. 
This practical side to these stories led to their inclusion 
in most of the medieval collections of exempla intended 
for use in sermons. In consequence the tale of the 
' weeping-bitch ' found a place in several versions ^ of 
the Gesta Romanorum. Of the version in this collection a 
most interesting feature is the ingenious, not to say naive, 
way in which the author, from unpromising material, 
has drawn a moralization. According to the allegorical 
interpretation the chaste wife is the soul purified by bap- 
tism. The soldier husband is Christ. The lover is worldly 
vanity. The go-between is the devil. The bitch is the 

1 Two modern editions: (i) Soc. des Bibliofhil es^Pzris^iSz^; (2) Ed. by 
M. Roesle, Munich, 1899. In edition (i) there are 388 verses in the ' weep- 
ing-bitch ' story; in (2), a critical edition, there are 368. 

2 This story does not appear in the Middle English Gesta Romanorum. 
It appears, however, in the following continental versions : (i) Edition 
publ. by Keller, Stuttgart, 1842; (2) Edition publ. by Oesterley, Berlin, 
1871 ; (3) MS. Colmar Issenheim, 10, fol. 32. These references are from 
Eisner, op. cit. p. 26. (4) Le Violier des Histoires Romaines, ed. by M. G. 
Brunet, Paris, 1858. 



XXX 3|ntrotiuction 

hope of long life and too much presuming on the mercy 
of God, because, just as that bitch was weeping from 
mustard, so hope frequently afflicts the soul. 

Other exempla versions of this story are to be found 
in the Preceptorium nouum et perutile by Gotscaldus 
Hollen and the Destructorium vitiorum by Alexander 
de Hales. Both these somewhat condensed versions 
profess to be from Petrus,^ and though containing some 
variant 2 details are probably drawn directly from the 
Disciplina, Still other versions used as exempla are the 
condensed ones in the Scala Celt by Johannes Gobii, in 
the Promptuarium exemplar urn by Johannes Herolt, and 
in the Speculum Morale attributed to Vincentius Bello- 
vacenses. These three versions Eisner concludes to be 
derived from the tale in the Gesta Romanorum, mainly 
on the ground that in the Gesta Romanorum the young 
man in the fictitious story of the go-between not only is 
ill but dies on account of love denied. The first and 
third, however, of these versions profess to be derived 
from Petrus Alphonsus, and the version by Herolt 3 
agrees almost word for word with that of Vincentius, 
and there seems good reason for accepting the state- 
ments of the authors. The fact that the lover is repre- 
sented as dying may be explained by the fact that these 
three authors of exempla drew not directly from the 
Latin Disciplina but from one of the doubtless more 
popularly known French metrical versions, in both of 
which the feature of the lover's death appears. These 

1 '' Alphigus " in the Destructorium. 

2 See the end of the Destructorium. 

3 The story of the * weeping dog ' in Herolt's Promptuarium is credited 
to the Seven Wise Masters. Cf. T. F. Crane, Exempla of Jacques de Vi- 
try.^ p. Ixxvii. 



^ 31ntro0ttction xxxi 

three much condensed versions in their minor details 
correspond more closely to the metrical versions than to 
the one in the Gesta Romanorum, notably in the bitch's 
three days fast in the Scala Cell and in the personal woo- 
ing by the lover in Herolt and in the Speculum Mo- 
rale. 

In addition to the exempla versions thus far men- 
tioned, all of which are related more or less directly to 
the version in the Disciplina Clericalisy there remain to 
be considered two others, in which the relationship is 
less close. The first one, by Jacques de Vitry (no. ccl. ), 
is important because early. ^ The most striking peculiar- 
ities of this version, which is also included in Wright's 
A Selection of Latin Stories (no. xiii.), are as fol- 
lows: — (i ) The go-between at first fails in her attempts; 
(2 ) She bids the young man feign illness ; ( 3 ) The bitch 
was once '^ a certain woman," not ''daughter"; (4) 
The young man, when ill, by certain spells changed the 
woman into a bitch. This God permitted for her sin in 
letting a man die whom she might have saved. As Eis- 
ner has pointed out, here is a mingling of oriental and 
occidental characteristics. Oriental ^ are the repeated 
attempt of the go-between, the relationship of go-be- 
twxen to bitch, and the use of spells by the young man. 
Like the western versions based on the Disciplina, on 
the other hand, are the death of the lover in the story 

1 '* The first to regularly employ in sermons exempla^ or narratives to 
instruct the people, as well as to keep up their attention when it was likely 
to flag, was Jacques dc Vitry, who died at Rome in the year 1240." — W. 
A. Clouston, Popular Tales and Fictions^ p. II. 

2 That the oriental version of this talc was known in western Europe 
seems to be indicated by the fact that in Herolt's Promptuarium the talc is 
attributed to the Seven Wiie Masters. 



xxxii 3|ntroliuctton 

of the go-between, the use of bread and mustardy and 
the fact that God permitted the transformation on ac- 
count of the woman's sin. Peculiar to this version is 
the advice of the go-between to the young man to feign 
illness. 

The other variant exemplum version is the one in the 
Contes Moralises of Nicole Bozon (No. 138). The 
striking features of this version are as follows : — ■ ( i ) 
The lady wooed is a demoiselle \ ' (2) The go-be- 
tween is a deablesse ; ^ ( 3 ) The lover is a clerk 
who had long wooed the demoiselle and who paid the 
go-between for her assistance; (4) In the story of 
the go-between, the lover, also a clerk, died of grief; 

(5) The bitch had been a daughter of the go-between; 

(6) God was angry and transformed the daughter into 
a bitch; (7) The go-between at the end remarks that 
death takes but one life, but ^^ par baudestrote^^ are 
killed three at one time, ^^ sa alme e deus autres,^^ It 
will be noted that this version contains some 3 of the 
distinctive traits of the versions based upon the Disci- 
plina version. It will be noted also that in several 
respects the version is independent. The distinctive 
peculiarities of this version, however, do not seem to be 
due to the influence of the oriental versions. Most in- 
teresting for the purpose of the present volume is the 
fact that the lover's part is played by a clerk who has 

1 In this respect like the English Interludium. 

2 In the play of Hansen, the go-between, before making use of the 
weeping-bitch device, has sent a devil to the lady in vain. At the end of 
the version in the Destructorium^Mnsion is made to the fact that the lady 
has successfully resisted a devil. In the " Metrical Tales of Adolfus," the 
go-between is referred to as ^'^ Daemonis adjutrix." 

3 The death of the lover, and the transformation by God. 



3Introfiuction xxxiii 

wooed the lady in vain, a feature which appears else- 
where only in the Dame Siriz and the related Inter- 
ludium^ and in the late Latin ^ version. It is well 
known that Nicole Bozon in his collection of stories 
drew freely from English popular sources, and it seems 
not improbable that this feature of this eclectic version 
may be related directly or indirectly to the English 
fabliau version or to the English dramatic version upon 
which \ht fabliau is based. 

About the time of the invention of printing the sto- 
ries of the DiscipUna Ckric^lis were introduced into 
the European book of iEsop. About 1480 Heinrich 
Stainhowel made a fable collection in German and 
Latin including, besides fables proper collected from 
various sources, also '^fabulae collectae,'*^ comprising 
the stories of the DiscipUna Clericaliszxi^ the Facetiae 
of Poggio. Versions of this fable collection appeared in 
Italian, French, Spanish, Dutch, and English. In this 
way the tale of the ^ weeping-bitch ' found a place in 
European fable collections, and the version of the story 
in Caxton's * Fables of jEsop^ is the earliest printed 
version in English. The form of the story in the dif- 
ferent fable versions does not differ save in minor de- 
tails. It seems to have been derived from Petrus Al- 
phonsus, but indirectly. In minor details it resembles 
more the story as told in the expanded French metri- 
cal version, which no doubt was more popularly 
known. For example, the young man makes direct suit 

1 Bozon's version agrees with that of the Interludium in that the lover 
is a clerk, the lady a maiden. Is it not probable that Bozon's tale offers 
a condensed form of the tale of which the fragmentary Interludium give* 
the first part ? 

2 Published by Tobler. See Bibliography. 



xxxiv ^Introduction 

to the lady, the period of the dog's fast is three days, 
the young man in the story of the go-between dies. 
In still another respect it resembles the roman cortois ^ 
rather than the moral tale, in that instead of God it is 
the gods that, from pity for the lover, turn the daugh- 
ter of the go-between into a bitch. An interesting feat- 
ure of Caxton's version is that the woman is converted 
into a cat, probably due to one of Caxton's character- 
istic blunders in translation, the Latin catella being 
mistaken for ' cat. ' 

This tale, which was included by Caxton in his 
iEsop, did not find a permanent place in English fable 
collections. It does not appear in the Wynkyn de 
Worde collection of 1503. Nor does it appear in the 
later collection by Bullokar in 1585, nor in the later 
collections by Ogilby, by L' Estrange, and by Croxall. 

The story of the * weeping-bitch ' appears in an 
interesting guise in the Metrical Tales of Adolfus 
(^Fabula V.). Here again is evident the influence of 
contemporary hterary fashions. The story, in Latin 
verse, though condensed, is told in an elaborate and 
artificial style and is filled with classical allusions and 
comparisons. In this version it is Venus, ^ ^^ alma Cy- 
prisy^^ the protector of the true lover, that transforms 
the daughter of the go-between. 

That our story was in popular oral circulation seems 
to be proved by a late Latin version recently published 
by Tobler.3 This Latin version,^ according to Tobler, 

1 Cf. p. xxix. 

2 Similarly in the Fastnacht spiel of Hans Sachs it is the goddess Venus 
that punishes the hard-hearted lady by transformation. 

I Zt.f. rom. Phil. x. 476-480. 

4 This version in the manuscript follows a translation of the * elegiac 



3IntrotJuctfon xxxv 

seems to have been taken down from oral transmission, 
and the language seems to indicate a Venetian origin. 
This version has a number of interesting variations 
from the common forms of the story, variations such 
as one might expect in a popular tale. The bitch in 
this story is a '* ki^ola,^^ which the go-between takes 
from her bosom and puts in her lap. No mention is 
made of the dog's tears. The lady asks the old woman 
where she got so fine a dog. The old woman bids her 
not to ask because it grieves her, but at length she is 
prevailed upon and weepingly tells that the ki^ola was 
her daughter, transformed by a young man because she 
had spurned his love. In this story the lover is a clerk 
as in the Dame Siriz and the exemplum of Nicole Bozon. 

Further proof, if further proof were needed, of the 
universal diffusion of this tale is afforded by the num- 
ber of dramatic ^ handlings of the theme. In Den- 
mark ^ a farce was made from this story; m France 
Gringoire used it in Les F ant aisles de Mere Sotte; 3 in 
Germany Hans Sachs used it as the theme of one of 
his Fastnachtspiele ; finally in England it supplies the 
story for the fragmentary Interludium de Clerico et 
Fuella, 

This Middle English interlude is so closely related 

comedy' Pamphilus^ and itself resembles another 'elegiac comedy ' by 
one Jacobus. Perhaps it retells the story of an Italian-Latin comedy. 

1 Tales of lovers and go-betweens are handled in the Latin elegiac 
comedies of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In one of these the lover 
is a priest and the lady a married woman. (C. F. Gayley, Ref>r. Engl. 
Comedies^ N. Y., 1903, p. xvii.) But in none of these does the weeping- 
bitch appear. (Cf. W. Creizenach, G^jc/;. ^^j neueren Dramas ^1. 16-41.) 

2 See Bibliography, Christiern Hansen's Komedier. 

I This version, which is cited by Eisner from a manuscript in the Biblio* 
theque Nationale^ does not appear in the Elzevir edition of the works of 
Gringoire, and has not been seen by the present writer. 



xxxvi 31ntroDuction 

to the '^n^\s\i fabliau that the two cannot conven- 
iently be treated apart. Hence we proceed directly 
to the English fabliau of Dame Siriz, In one or 
two instances it has already been pointed out that 
there is evidence that the Book of Sindibad version of 
the weeping-bitch story was not entirely unknown in 
Western Europe. Very conclusive evidence to that 
effect is afforded by the English Dame Siriz, This 
story in its general outline follows the oriental versions 
of the Book of Sindibad. In the first place is to be 
noted the absence of all five traits mentioned above as 
distinctive of the version in the Disciplina Clericalis. 
So well known a tale as the one in the Disciplina can 
hardly have been unknown to the author of the Dame 
SiriZy and in certain minor details, for instance the use 
of mustard, the influence of the Disciplina version is 
evident. But the essential details of the Dame Siriz 
are like those of the oriental versions. A more close 
examination of the oriental versions shows that the ver- 
sion of the Book of Sindibad to which the Dame Siriz 
is most closely related is the Greek Syntipas, Eisner 
has shown the following points of agreement between 
the English tale and the one in the Greek Syntipas : — 
(i) The lover woos personally; (2) The rejected 
lover does not become ill; (3) The lover calls on the 
go-between for assistance; (4) The go-between pro- 
ceeds to work without delay; (5) The go-between 
gives the bitch pepper (in Dame Siriz both pepper 
and mustard); (6) The bitch is said to be the daugh- 
ter of the go-between; (7) This daughter has been 
willing to love only her husband; (8) The rejected 



3|ntro6uction xxxvii 

lover has revenged himself. To these features, common 
to the English and the Greek versions, may be added 
the fact that in the English version the husband is a 
merchant, a feature that appears in the Hebrew and 
other oriental versions, though not explicitly mentioned 
in the Syntipas, 

The English Dame SiriZy then, differs from most 
other western versions of the tale in that it is based 
directly on an oriental version of the story. Other pe- 
culiarities of this version are due to the hterary genre to 
which it belongs. If in the expanded French metrical 
version the story is colored by the sentiment of courtly 
love, and if in the Metrical Tales of Ado If us the con- 
ventional and artificial form of Ovid's tales is given to 
the story, in this English version the story, as the title 
informs us, is told as z. fabliau, characterized by humor 
and satire. The relation of this English tale to its ex- 
empla congeners is much that of a beast-epic tale to a 
fable version of the same story. Emphasis is laid on the 
living elements of the story. The dramatis personae 
are no longer merely a young man, a chaste wife and 
an old woman, but Wilekin, Margeri, and Dame Siriz, 
whose characters are revealed by means of realistic dia- 
logue. In the longer French metrical version stress is 
laid on the love sensations of the young man; in the 
fabliau y stress is laid on the ruse by which the go-between 
accomplishes her purpose, and upon her dissembling, 
hypocritical character. Characteristic of they^^//^// is the 
fact that the lover is a clerk, whom the medieval satirical 
writers o{ fabliaux are fond of introducing into such situ- 
ations. The central figure in the English story is not the 



xxxviii 3Introtiuction 

lover, but Dame Siriz herself, and the gradual disclos- 
ure of her character, from the dissimulation of her 
first words to the hilarity of her language at the end, 
is cleverly brought about. The character of the wife 
Margeri is but dimly revealed. It may be remarked in 
passing that in her character the author offers an enigma 
not unlike that which Chaucer has left in the character 
of Criseyde. 

A feature of the Dame Siriz that cannot fail to at- 
tract attention is the amount of dialogue. More than one 
fourth of the whole poem is taken up with the dialogue 
between the clerk, Wilekin, and the wife, Margeri, 
an amount of space quite out of proportion to the im- 
portance of this preliminary dialogue to the action of the 
story. Furthermore it has been pointed out'^ that in the 
whole poem, apart from a narrative introduction of 24 
verses, there are but 33 narrative verses to 403 verses in 
dialogue. Within the individual scenes there are but 3 
narrative lines. The transitions in the dialogue from one 
speaker to another are not usually marked. For instance, 
no explanation is given when Dame Siriz from speaking 
to Wilekin turns to address the bitch. It is to be noted 
further that the last six lines of the poem, spoken by 
Dame Siriz, sound like an epilogue. From reasons such 
as these, W. Heuser has concluded, correctly it seems, 
that the fabliau is based upon an original interlude, to 
which have been added a short introduction and a few 
narrative interpolations scarcely more than stage di- 
rections. ^ 

This brings up the question concerning the relation- 

I W. Heuser, ^w^//<i, xxx.'3o6-3 19. 



3Introl)uction xxxix 

ship of the Dame Siriz to the fragmentary Interludium 
De Clerico et Puella. It has long been recognized from 
similarity in phraseology amounting to identity between 
many verses/ that these two works are related, and it 
has usually been assumed that the interlude was based 
on xht fabliau. Heuser comes to a quite contrary con- 
clusion, which is doubtless correct. The fabliau is 
obviously based on a dramatic version. This original 
can hardly have been the extant interlude, because not 
only are the proper names different, but there is differ- 
ence in certain important details. For example, the lady 
loved in the interlude, as in the version by Nicole Bozon, 
is a *'damishel" and ** may den." The only conclu- 
sion left to be drawn is that these two works are related 
to a common original. 

The unique manuscript in which the Dame Siriz is 
preserved, Digby MS. 86, the same one to which we 
owe the preservation of the unique text of the Fox and 
Wolf is one of those displayed in the exhibition case 
of manuscripts in the Bodleian library. This manuscript, 
we are told, was probably written ^^at the priory at 
Worcester between 1272 and 1283." The Dame Siriz 
begins on folio 165 with the following heading in red 
ink, Ci comece le fable I fef le cointise de dame siriz. 

On the subject of the dialect of the Dame Siriz dif- 
ferent opinions have been expressed. Ten Brink assigns 
the original work to the Southeast, to Kent or Sussex. 
Brandl, on the other hand, assigns it to the Southwest 

I Vv. 82,83 in Dame Sirix, = v. 5 in the Interludium. Similarly 102 = 
9, 112-114 = 25, 134 = 12, 135 — 30, 161 = 37, 167 = 38, 174 = 42, 
175-177 = 43-47, 187, 188 = 53,54i 191 = 62,193 =63, 196-199 = 6s- 
69, 205 = 84, 207-209 = 69-71, 221, 222 = 57 ; cf. Heuser, loc. cit. 313. 



xi BIntroDuction 

Midland (in which dialect the MS. itself doubtless wai 
written). A close examination of the existing form of 
the text reveals a mixture of forms from different dia- 
lectls. The infinitive ends, now with, now without, 
final -//. The first personal pronoun appears as ich^ ihcy 
and /. Other varying forms are: leuCy geue ; muchele^ 
michele, mike I ; serine, sunne. 

The most striking peculiarities, however, are those 
of Southern character. Very noticeable is the dropping 
or wrong application of initial h-y and the use of initial 
w- for older hw-, and the frequent use of the prefix /- 
before the verbal forms. Other Southern pecuHarities 
are: wes for was, cunnes (O. E. cynnes^, ich, hoe for 
she, bye for /?eiy the forms of the verb be, such spell- 
ings as same 'shame,' srud 'shroud,' Jles 'flesh,' 
and the forms hauefi and ledep in the plural of the 
present indicative. 

Along with these Southern forms appear a number 
of non-Southern features. The rimes te (infin.), me ; 
eteUy mete ; fare, hare, indicate that in the original the 
final -n of the infinitive was dropped at least sometimes. 
The rimes inney wenne (O. E. wynn^ ; inney senne 
(O.E. synn)y indicate a non-Southern pronunciation 
of O.E. y. The rime woldiy vilani indicates the use 
of the form / for the pronoun of the first person. Heuser 
cites the rime comey blome as a sign of the East Mid- 
land dialect, and iboeny men as specifically Lincolnshire. 
Besides these rimes we may cite the following non- 
Southern words or word-forms, some of them already 
cited by Heuser: s elk y ferity mikely til (for 'to'), 
allegate, witerliy gange (infin.) gar{jn^y godlec. 



KIntroDuction xli 

From such dialectal peculiarities and the fact that the 
related interlude De Clerico et Puella is composed in the 
dialect of North. Lincoln or South York, and from the 
allusion to the fair at Botolfston in Lincolnshire, Heu- 
ser concludes that the home of the interlude underlying 
\kit fabliau o^ Dame Siriz was Lincolnshire. 

The Dame Siriz, then, in its present form is based 
on an East Midland original, and retains forms peculiar 
to that dialect. It was probably composed, however, 
by a resident of the South, and the manuscript, written 
at Worcester, was probably written by a scribe belong- 
ing to the Southwest. 

The early date of the Dame Siriz is shown by the 
date of the manuscript, written between 1272 and 1283. 

The versification is not uniform. The first 132 verses 
are in the tail-rime stanza with the rime scheme a a b 
c c b. Then follow 16 verses in couplets. During the 
remainder of the poem the tail-rime stanza and the 
couplet alternate irregularly, the change in the character 
of the verse seeming to correspond in no respect to the 
subject matter. Heuser supposes that the composer of 
t\iQ fabliau undertook to transform an original interlude 
in couplets, possibly from memory, into a poem with 
tail-rime stanzas, and that he was unequal to the task. 

This tale, careless in its versification, is not more 
finished in other respects. It lacks in proportion, a char- 
acteristic which it shares with other Middle English 
tales. A more serious fault is a want of fitness of man- 
ner to matter, the stiiFness of the tail-rime stanza ill suit- 
ing the trivial character of the story, unless indeed the 
effect of burlesque was consciously aimed at as in Chau- 



xiii 3!^troliuction 

cer's Sir Tbofas. The situations, however, are pre- 
sented with remarkable concreteness, and the charac- 
ters, especially that of Dame Siriz, presented with a 
considerable degree of distinctness. The whole poem, 
too, is pervaded with sly irony, which only near the end 
breaks out in open hilarity. 

The interlude De Clerico et Puella ^ is preserved in 
a unique manuscript, now Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 23986, 
of the first part of the fourteenth century. The inter- 
lude, which is in riming couplets, is incomplete, leav- 
ing off in the course of the dialogue between the lover 
and the go-between, so that the weeping-bitch does not 
appear. The theme * in this interlude is the same as 
that in t\iQ fabliau y as is proved conclusively by the ver- 
bal resemblances mentioned above, amounting even to 
identity between lines in the two works. There are, 
however, striking points of difference. The object of 
the clerk's love in the interlude is a ^* may den " names 
Malkyn, and the go-between is named Mome Elwis. 
The dialogue, owing in part to the use of the couplet 
throughout, is more Hvely and natural than in i\iQ fabliau. 

This interesting dramatic fragment is the sole 3 repre- 
sentative of a kind of composition once popular in Eng- 
land. According to Ward, interludes ** from the 
Plantagenet times onwards seems to have not infre- 
quently been produced to diversify or fill up the paused 
of the banquet ensuing in great houses upon the more 

I " England hat nach dem Spiel von der Dame Siriz das ganze Mittel- 
alter hindurch kein weiteres komisches Drama aufzuweisen." — W. 
Creizenach, op. cit. i. p. 454. 

Z Cf. p. 15, note 4. 

3 A second possible example is the Dux Moraud, cf. W. Heuser, jin- 
glia, XXX. 180 ff. 



31ntroi)uction xiiii 

substantial part of the repast." Evidence of the popu- 
larity of such productions is afforded by the Wycliffite 
protest ' against clergy for taking part in representations 
of interludes. This piece, according to Creizenach, 
^* seems to have been used by clerks." The marginal 
notes in the manuscript are in Latin, and the subject 
matter deals w^ith a priest. This English interlude is 
possibly related to a Latin dramatic composition, ** per- 
haps Italian," referred to by Gay ley, ^ '*by one Jaco- 
bus," and dealing with the *' intrigue, so dear to medi- 
eval satirists, between priest and labourer's wife." 

The Vox and Wolf 

To the same interesting manuscript which has pre- 
served the unique copy of the Dame Siriz we owe also 
the prcservadon of the entertaining tale of the Fox and 
Wolf. This tale, aside from its own intrinsic interest, 
has an importance in English literature, since it is the 
sole representative in English before the time of Chau- 
cer of the tales of the Roman de Renard, The medi- 
eval pseudo-natural history dealing with the habits and 
qualities of beasts is well represented in English by the 
early Middle English Bestiary^ and, as has already been 
pointed out above, England contributed its full share 
toward the medieval culture of fables. It is somewhat 
surprising, then, to find in Middle English but this sol- 
itary representative of the beast-epic tales so popular in 
French. 

1 Reliquiae Antiquae^ 2, 42 flF. ; MStzner, Lesebuch^ 1,2, 224 ff.j c£ 
Creizenach, o/». cit. i. 179, 180. 

2 Op, cit. p. xvil. 



xiiv 31ntroi)uction 

No exact original of the English Fox and Wolf\% 
known, but the story in its main outline corresponds to 
Branch iv. of the French Roman de Renard. The story 
of Branch iv. in the ordinary version runs as fol- 
lows:^ — Renard arrives hungry one night before a 
monastery and finds an open gate. He devours two 
chickens and is about to proceed to a third when he is 
overcome with thirst. He finds a well in the courtyard, 
and at the bottom of this well he sees his own reflection, 
which he takes to be the face of his wife Hermeline. 
Renard calls down the well, ** What are you doing?'* 
An echo answers him. He calls a second time, and then, 
impatient, jumps into a bucket and descends, so rapidly 
that he nearly drowns. He is in despair of ever get- 
ting out, when Isengrim, the wolf, comes along. Isen- 
grim sees his own reflection in the well beside Renard 
and thinks it to be his wife Hersent. For a time he 
heaps abuse upon the supposed Hersent. Renard allows 
him to proceed for a time; then he calms him by per- 
suading him that he below is dead and in paradise. Isen- 
grim wishes to go down. Renard points out the way, 
but advises him first to confess his sins. While Isengrim, 
with his face to the west, prays God to pardon his sins, 
Renard gets into a bucket. Isengrim, his prayer finished, 
gets into the other bucket, and descends, lifting the 
bucket with Renard. As the buckets pass, Isengrim asks 
Renard why he is going up. Renard replies, ^^ I am 
going to paradise above; you are going to hell below. 
When one goes, the other comes . . ." Isengrim re- 
mains in the well all night. Next morning he is dis- 

I The summary here follows that by Sudre. See Bibliography. 



3IntroDuction xiv 

covered by servants of the monks, and is beaten w^ith 
clubs and left for dead. 

Besides this ordinary version of Branch iv. of the 
French Romany there is preserved in a single manu- 
script ^ another distinct French version which is more 
simple in outline. In this unique version no mention is 
made of Renard mistaking his own reflection in the 
water for the face of Hermeline nor of the wolf's illu- 
sion concerning Hersent.^ Isengrim's confession, which 
plays a conspicuous part in the ordinary version, in this 
simpler version is disposed of in a single sentence, and 
the paradise in this version is an earthly paradise. In 
minor details at the beginning and the end this version 
differs from the ordinary one, but the main outline of 
the story is the same. In both versions the story is told 
in a spirited manner, and it is not easy to say which 
affords the better entertainment. 

Neither of these French versions corresponds exactly 
with the English tale; in the introductory part of the 
story the English version resembles more closely the sim- 
pler French story; in the latter part there is greater 
parallelism with the ordinary French version. It is clear, 
however, that the English tale, with its individual 
names, Sigrim and Reneuard, its lively narrative and 
realistic dialogue, and its human satire, is closely related 
to the versions in the Roman de Renard. '^ 

1 Bihl. de V Arsenal^ 3334* Published by Chabaille in a supplement to 
the edition of Meon. 

2 In the allusions to the well-story in branches vi. and ix. of the sim- 
pler version, Isengrim is represented as attracted solely by the opportu- 
nity offered to gourmandize. 

3 The tales of the Roman de Renard are probably based on popular sto- 
ries. These popular stories differ from the fables in that the didactic ele- 
ment is eliminated. To the popular tales the tales of the Roman d» Rtnard 
add an anthropomorphic element. 



xivi 3Intro8uction 

To trace the exact relationship of this English tale 
of fox and wolf to the scores of other versions, written 
and oral, in the different countries of Europe, would 
be an impossible task. The inter-influences between 
written and oral versions are too complex ever to 
be exactly determined. There are, however, several 
related groups of versions which it is possible to distin- 
guish. 

In the first place the history of the version in the 
Roman de Renard deserves attention. This form of the 
story is retold, with minor modifications and with espe- 
cial animus against the black monks, in the French ^^- 
nart le Contrefait, It is not included in the Latin Tsen- 
grimus composed at Ghent in 1148 by the scholar 
Nivard, nor in the Reinardus Fulpes, a later expanded 
version of the Ysengrimus. It does appear, however, in 
the German version of the Roman de Renard, the Rein- 
hart Fuchs composed by Heinrich der Glichezare 
about 1 180. In this version appear the illusions caused 
by the reflections in the well in the case both of Rein- 
hart and of Isengrim. The paradise in the well is allur- 
ingly described. Isengrim, seeing the eyes of Reinhart 
gleaming in the dark, asks what they are, and is told 
they are carbuncles. There is, however, no mention of 
the confession and absolution of Isengrim. 

Derived from this early German version seems to be 
the one printed by J. von Lassberg in his Lie der Saal,^ 
This story has two parts : — ( i ) The fox sees his own 
reflection in a well and mistakes it for his wife. Through 
love of her, he leaps in. (2) The wolf comes along and 

I Vol. II. no. 93. Reprinted by Grimm, Reinhart Fuchs^ pp. 356-8. 



3IntroDuction xivii 

is led by the prospect of ^* manger siissen spise " to 
leap into the bucket. Corresponding with the two parts 
are two morals: — ( i ) One must not be made foolish 
by love; (2) One must not trust false friends. 

Possibly remotely connected with the Roman de Renard 
version are two other tales: — (i ) ^ fifteenth-century 
German version, printed by J. Baechtold ( Germaniay 
XXXIII. 257 ff. ) in a collection of twenty-one tales 
which in the manuscript formed an appendix to Boner's 
Fables. No mention is made of a paradise in the well. 
The fox entices the wolf by saying, '* dz mir all min 
tag nie so wol wz "; (2) The Italian fable in the No- 
vellette Esempi Moral! e Apologhi di San Bernardino da 
Siena, Racconto vi., in which the wolf is led to descend 
into the well by the prospect of a hen. Neither of 
these versions mentions the moon reflection. 

The well story does not appear in the first part of the 
Flemish Reynaerty composed by a poet named William 
about 1250, but it appears in a somewhat modified 
form in a later anonymous second part, more than a 
century later. Here the she-wolf Hersinde, in bringing 
charges against Reynaert, brings up against him the well 
adventure. It is Hersinde that has heard Reynaert' s 
cries in the well, and moved by his account of the fish 
below has entered the bucket, has suiFered hunger and 
cold, and has escaped alive only after many blows. This 
Flemish version of the story is reproduced in the Low 
German Reineke de Fos and ultimately in Goethe's 
Reinecke Fuchs, in which Gieremund, the wife of Ise- 
grim, complains concerning her adventure in the well. ' 

I Reinecke Fuchs^ XI. vv. 97-131. 



xlviii 3flntrotittction 

Caxton's Renard the Fox^ is a translation from the 
Flemish, and in Caxton's book it is Erswynde, the 
wife of Ysengrim, who tells how, attracted by the pro- 
spect offish, she is beguiled by Renard. 

Another version of the well-story which seems to be 
related ^ to the version in the Flemish Reynaert is the 
interesting fourteenth-century Italian 3 fable. In this 
version, in terza rima, which has been attributed to Boc- 
caccio, but in the opinion of McKenzie is more likely 
by Antonio Pucci, the wolf is led, by the prospect of 
fish in the well, to leap into the bucket. Interesting 
is the distinctively Italian tragic ending, in which a dog 
avenges the wolf by killing the escaping fox. 

M. Sudre believes that the well story is derived from 
popular tradition. In support of his belief he cites the 
fable version of the story by Odo of Sherington, who 
lived in the first half of the thirteenth century, and was 
the author of a number of fables which were before 
unknown to fable collections and which Odo is likely to 
have derived from popular sources. The simple version 
of the story as told by Odo agrees in its outline with 
the Flemish version just considered, and is not unhkely 
derived from a common popular source. The fox falls 
into a well by accident. The wolf is allured by the ac- 
count of many fish and large ones. In the morning rus- 
tics club the wolf, Ysengrimus, nearly to death. It seems 
not at all improbable that this simple version may repre- 
sent fairly closely the English form of the original popular 

1 Cf. Caxton's Reynart^ ed. Arber, p. 96. The adventure in the well is 
not included in the English eighteenth-century chap-book version, which 
seems to be an abridgment of Caxton. 

2 Possibly derived from Odo of Sherington. 

3 Printed by K. McKenzie. Publ. M. L. A. of Amer. xxi. 226 ff. 



3Introt)uction xiix 

story, which was expanded in the French Roman by the 
anthropomorphic details of the illusions produced by the 
reflections in the water and of the paradise in the well, 
and by the burlesque account of the shriving of Isen- 
grim. The fables of O do were well known in different 
countries. It is quite probable that Odo's fable supplied 
the matter for the first part of the Italian fable mentioned 
above, and Fable no. 14 in the Spanish Libro de los 
Gatos is a close translation from Odo. Practically the 
same story is told in no. 59 of the Latin fables by John 
of Sheppey, who lived in the fourteenth century. 

A second family of versions of the story of the fox in 
the well seems to have a common parentage in the tale 
as told by Petrus Alphonsus in his Disciplina Clericalis. 
The tale by Petrus runs as follows : — A peasant vexed 
at his oxen exclaims, *' May the wolves eat you!" 
A wolf hears, and at the end of the day claims the 
oxen. The peasant demurs. They set out to seek a 
judge and meet a fox, who undertakes to settle the case 
out of court. To the peasant he promises to award the 
oxen if he is given a chicken for himself and one for his 
wife; to the wolf he promises that the peasant will give 
a cheese the size of the moon if the wolf will quit his 
claim on the oxen. The fox then conducts the wolf to 
a well in which the moon is shining. He points out the 
moon's reflection in the well, and tells the wolf this is 
his cheese. The wolf asks the fox to bring up the 
cheese. The fox descends in a bucket, but pretends 
the cheese is too heavy for him alone. The wolf descends 
to help. The two pass on the way, and the wolf is left to 
his own devices at the bottom of the well. 



1 3Introi)uttton 

In this version there will be recognized two new and 
quite independent elements : — ( i ) The introduction 
concerning the peasant, the oxen, and the wolf; (2 ) The 
moon mistaken for cheese. Of these elements the first 
forms the material for Branch ix. of the French Roman 
de Ren art, with a different conclusion, however, and 
with Bruin the bear playing the part taken by the wolf 
in the Disciplina story. It also forms the first part of a 
genuinely Indo-European popular tale known in Fin- 
land, Lapland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, 
France, Spain, Lithuania, Russia, Greece, Syria and 
India. K. Krohn,^ who has made an exhaustive study 
of the various forms of this tale, refers to the version in 
the Disciplina as '^die unvollstandigc und corrumpirte 
form des Petrus Alfonsi." The moon element in the 
tale also is the subject of a widely known popular story. 
According to Krohn (p. 41), 'Mt enters not only the 
beast- epic but fable literature in general through the 
translation of the story in the Disciplina Cleric a lis and 
thus has spread here and there among the folk." 

The exact source of this combination of the story of 
the fox in the well with that of the moon reflection it is 
impossible to determine. It is interesting, however, to 
note that practically the same story as told by Petrus, 
though with a different introduction, was told by the 
Jewish Rabbi Raschi in the preceding century. Since 
Petrus derived his tales from Hebrew and oriental 
sources, one is at first inclined to attribute this story 
combination to Hebrew origin. The fact, however, 
that the story does not appear elsewhere ^ in Hebrew 

I Sec Bibliography. 

* It is not told by Hai Gaon (969-1038), who professes to tell the same 



3|ntroDttction li 

fable collections, and that Raschi was born about 1 040 
in Troyes, in the part of France where beast tales at 
that particular time were being actively propagated, 
leads one to conclude that Raschi made use of a current 
popular tale which through some channel, Hebrew or 
other, later supplied Petrus with his version of the 
story. 

The tale as told by Petrus Alphonsus appeared in the 
various vernacular versions of his story collection. Of 
these the most interesting is the expanded courtly French 
metrical version of the C{h^astoiement. Here the in- 
fluence of the Roman de Renard is apparent. The 
Fox and Wolf bear the names respectively of Regnart 
and TsengrimSy and the burlesque element is prominent, 
particularly in the passage where Regnart proposing 
himself as judge says, 

** Car j'ai este a bone escole 
Et a Boloigne et a Paris 
Ou j'ai des lois asses apria 
Que loial jugement ferai 
De vos contes, quant jes orrai.** 

ed. Roesle, vv. 81-85. 

The tale by Petrus, like the Dame Siriz, found its 
way into the fable collection of Stainhowel and thence 
into the fable collections of the Netherlands, Spain, 
France, and England, besides that of Germany. In Cax- 
ton's edition it stands as number ix. of ** The Fables 
of Alfonce." It is cited by N. S. Guillon as appearing 

tale from Rabbi Meir as is told by Raschi. (See Publ. M. L, A. Amer. 
XXIII. pp. 497 S.) Further, it is not included in the Syriac Fables ofSo/>hos 
(J. Landsberger, Die Fabeln des Sophos^ Posen, 1859), nor in the Hebrew 
Parabolae Vulpium of Barachia Nikdan, which contains several kindred 
tales, notably the story of the wolf fishing with his tail through the ice. 



lii BlntroUuction 

in the Fables of Marie de France from the MS. de la 
BibL de Saint-Germain-des-PreSy no. 1830. It is not 
included, however, in the Warnke edition of the Fables 
by Marie. 

An interesting version of this form of the story is the 
one included in the Contes Moralises of Nicole Bozon, 
no. 128, under the moralization, De Mala societate fu- 
gienda, and in the Latin translation from Bozon (Her- 
vieux, Fabulistes Latins y 111. no. 10). In this version 
it is a sheep that is led by the fox to mistake the reflec- 
tion of the moon in the well for a cheese and to descend 
in the bucket. That Bozon in this fable was drawing 
from English popular tradition seems certain from the 
fact that the sheep lamenting his condition at the bottom 
of the well is made to say, in English y *' For was hyt 
never myn kynd chese in welle to fynd." It is possible 
that the English popular story corresponding to the pop- 
ular stories used by Petrus and by Raschi had the sheep 
as a principal character. ' In this connection it is worthy 
of note that in another fable in the collection by Bozon 
(no. 46) the fox and the wolf see the reflection of the 
moon in the water, and the wolf is led to fish with his 
tail for the supposed cheese, a quite different combina- 
tion of the moon reflection incident with a story even 
more widely known than that of the fox in the well. 

The Disciplina version of the story is admirably 
handled by Robert Henryson in his collection of fables. 
This Scotch fable in seven-line stanzas, on account of 

I Perhaps the substitution of sheep for wolf is due to Bozon's desire to 
differentiate this story from the story of the fox and the wolf fishing with 
his tail, which, as told by Bozon, is also associated with the moon reflec- 
tion story. 



3f|ntrol>uction liii 

its concreteness of detail and liveliness of manner and 
interesting Scotch phrases, deserves to be classed among 
the very best versions of the story. The Disciplina form 
of the story is also used by Hans Sachs in his '^Fabel 
mit dem Pauer, Fuchs und WoliF" and, w^ith another 
story replacing that of the peasant and his oxen, in the 
sixteenth-century German fable collection by Burkhard 
Waldis (Book 4, Fable 8). It is also the form used 
by La Fontaine, who elaborates in details, notably in the 
appearance of the moon reflection, w^hich is e chancre in 
appearance like cheese, and in Renard's enticing descrip- 
tion of the quality of the cheese. Moland, in his edition 
of La Fontaine, cites as a source for La Fontaine's fable, 
the Apologii Phcedriiy 1 00 fables by Jacques Regnier, 
Pars I, p. 24, published in 1643, w^hich the present 
w^riter has been unable to examine. Another version 
possibly belonging to the Disciplina family is the Italian 
fable della Volpe e V Lupoy one of a collection of one 
hundred fables by Verdizotti, published at Venice in 
1570. The La Fontaine version, in turn, seems to be 
the source of a later Latin version in the Tabulae AesopiaCy 
Book 8, Fable 24, by F. J. Desbillons, 5th ed. Paris, 
1769. In later English versions the fable in the Dis- 
ciplina version is not frequent. ^ It does appear, however, 
in a very much condensed form, as number 3 in a 
collection of fables in The Principles of Grammar y or 
ToutF s English Directory y by G. Wright, London, 
1794. 

I It does not appear in BuUokar's collection, 1585, nor among Gay*s 
Fables^ nor in the Aaop at Tunhridge^ London, 1628, nor in Fables for 
Ladies by E. Moore, about 1750, nor in Fables of Flora by Langhorne, 
nor in the large collection, Fables and Satires^ by Sir G. Boothby, Edinb., 
1809, nor in Aesofs Fables^ by T. James, Philadelphia, 1851. 



liv ^Introduction 

The bucket trick played on the wolf by the fox cer- 
tainly forms the subject of an amusing tale. The prac- 
tical lesson, however, to be derived from this tale is not 
so obvious as in most fables. Perhaps this fact helps ^ 
to explain why the story was not more generally adopted 
in later fable collections, where a very much inferior 
tale of the fox in the well makes frequent appearance. 
This inferior version, possibly not related in origin to 
the story in the present book, appears as number i 5 in 
the Hecatomithion secundum, an Italian collection of 
Latin fables by L. Abstemius, published at Venice in 
1499. The very simple narrative is as follows : — A 
fox falls into a well. He calls on a wolf for assistance. 
The wolf, instead of assisting, proceeds to ask questions. 
The fox rebukes him, bidding him first to render aid, 
then to ask questions. From an Itahan collection this 
fable was adopted into a Turkish collection (^Fables 
Turquesy transl. by J. A. Decourdemanche, no. 31). 
It appears in the collection of Centum Fabulae by the 
Italian Gabriele Faerno.^ It also appears in the princi- 
pal English fable collections of the last three centuries. 
From Abstemius it was adopted by L' Estrange and, like 
other fables in his expanded collection, supplied with 
a ** Moral " and a ** Reflexion.'' It appears also in the 
collection by S. Croxall, the leading English collection 
of the eighteenth century, and in the collection by T. 
Bewick,3 who derives his version from Croxall. It 

1 The main reason, doubtless, is the fact that the tale never formed a 
part of the earlier canonical collections, the Phaedrusythc Avian^ and the 
Romulus from which the later collections were put together. 

2 The edition consulted by the present writer was that of London, 1672, 

p. 79. 

I First published in 1818. In the edition of London, 1885, this fable ap- 
pears on page 311. 



3f|ntroDuction iv 

appears on the continent in the Esope-Esopus (French 
and German in parallel columns) by Carl Mouton, 
Hamburg, 1750, and a similar tale with the position of 
fox and wolf reversed is told by Lenoble ( (Euvres^ t. 
XIV. p. 515). The ultimate source of this version is not 
known to the present writer. A similar tale of Hare and 
Fox, however, appears in the Syriac Sopbos ^ (cf. Bib- 
liography) of the eleventh century, which in turn was 
probably translated from the Greek. ^ 

Was the story of the fox and wolf in the well de- 
rived ultimately from the orient ? This must remain 
an open question. Sudre 3 has pointed out that the tale 
in the French Roman did not reach France through the 
Aesopian or Phaedrian collections, and as early as 1855 
Weber 4 pointed out that in Indian literature there is 
nothing analogous to the buckets in the well. Professor 
Fleischer 5 of Leipzig is authority for the statement that 
this fable of fox and wolf does not appear in any Ara- 
bian book. The oriental fable of fox and goat in the 
well, which has persisted in fable collections to the pres- 
ent day and which is perhaps the closest oriental ana- 
logue, is an independent tale. Its resemblance to Branch 
xviii. of the Roman de Renard is more close than to 
Branch iv. On the other hand, in support of the theory 
of oriental origin, there may be cited certain other ori- 
ental analogues. In the Pantchatantra^ appears a tale 

I The tale of hare and fox in the Sophos has a moral different from that 
in the later tale. Fable no. 24 in the Sophos^ dealing with a drowning boy 
and a man on the shore, has the moral of the later tale of fox and wolf. 

a Cf. J. Jacobs, Fables of Aesop ^ I. 154, 155. 

3 L. Sudre, op. cit. p. 226. 

4 Indische Siudien^ ill. 368. 

5 Gelbhaus, Ueber Stoffe Altdeutscher Poesie^p. 39, Berlin, 1887. 

6 Transl. by Lancereau, p. 216. Cf« also Kirchbof^s If^tndunmuth^'] ^7Jb, 



ivi JlntroDuction 

in which a hare conducts a lion to a deep well where 
the lion sees his own reflection, and led by the hare to 
take the reflection for an enemy, leaps in and loses his 
life. A modern Indian form of this tale with jackals 
taking the place of the hare, is recorded in Old Deccan 
Days by M. Frere, in a tale entitled *^ Singh Rajah 
and the Cunning Little Jackals." This tale, in its main 
outline and in certain details reminds of the incident in 
the fox and the wolf story where Isengrim mistakes his 
reflection in the well for his wife Hersent. Another tale, 
in which the elephant is conducted by a hare to the edge 
of a lake, where he mistakes the shadow of the moon for 
the king of the hares, is also recorded in the Pant chat an- 
tra.^ These analogues, however, are not remarkably 
close, and we must conclude that if the story of fox and 
wolf in the well came from the East, it did not, as Sudre 
has pointed out, follow the literary route followed by 
other fables. If it came from the East by an oral route, 
the buckets element seems to be a western ^ addition. 

There remains to be mentioned an Arabic tale Le 
renard et la hfene (Meidani, P rover bes (6), t. ii. p. 
7, and Ech cherichi ap. cheikbo, MadjanP I adab (7), 
t. I. p. 89) cited by R. Basset (^Rev, des trad, pop, 
XXI., 300). A parallel to the conception of the earthly 
paradise in the well is to be found in the Arabic tale 3 
of '* Le Paradis Souterrain," in which a man goes to 

1 Translation by Lanccreau, p. 216. 

2 In an elegiac poem composed by Riparius in the fourteenth century 
(cited by Crcizenach,i. 28) a trick like that played by the fox on the wolf 
is played by a peasant on a clerk. Can the beast tale have been an adapta- 
tion of a tale originally dealing with human beings I 

3 Contu et Legendes uirabes ^hy R. Basset, no. 481 {Rev, des trad, 
pop. XV. p. 667). 



jflntroDuction Mi 

a well to draw water. The bucket falls to the bottom. 
The man descends to get the backet and finds a door 
opening into a paradise. 

It seems probable that the tale of fox and wolf as told 
in Branch iv. of the Roman de Renard is derived for 
the most part from popular tradition. This view is con- 
firmed by the fact that the tale is a familiar one in mod- 
ern folk story. It persists in popular story in Spain ^ and 
in Portugal. 2 A Breton popular version is cited by L. 
F. Sauve.3 A fox on the point of being eaten by a wolf 
points out the reflection of the moon in the water, say- 
ing that it is a young girl bathing. The wolf leaps in 
to devour her and is drowned. A similar tale, in which, 
however, the fox pushes the wolf into the well, appears 
in a cycle of beast tales of La Bresse.4 

Another popular tale told in Southern France is effec- 
tively reproduced by P. Redonnel.s A fox is in a tree 
eating cheese. A wolf asks what he is eating. The fox 
replies, * * The moon. ' ' The fox as he eats drops a crumb 
to the wolf from time to time. Both are thirsty, and 
they set out for a drink. On the way the fox explains 
that he found the moon trembling at the bottom of a 
well and carried it off. The two come to a well with 
two buckets. The fox descends first and drinks ; then 
signals for the wolf to get into the other bucket. The 
wolf is left in the well. It will be noted that this enter- 
tainingly told story has its inconsistencies. The fox in 

1 Arvtonio de Trueba, Narraciones populares^ Leipzig, 1875, pp. 91 ff. 

2 Coelho, Contos populares portuguexeSy Lisbon, 1879, pp. 13-15, 

3 Rev. des trad. pop. I. 363-4. 

4 Sebillot, Contes des Provinces de France. Le Renard de Bassieu et la 
loup d"" Hotonnes. 

5 Rev, des trad, pop, 11. 611-12. 



iviii Idntrotiuttion 

the tree is not easy to conceive of, and the relation of the 
moon story to the trick on the wolf is not made clear. 

In Northern France the tale is one of an epic cycle 
of tales concerning the relations of fox and wolf. In 
this collection the wolf, angry at the fox for a trick 
played on him, pursues him. The fox, about to be 
caught, comes to a well, leaps into a bucket and goes 
to the bottom. He cries for assistance. The wolf, still 
in angry pursuit, gets into the other bucket and is mocked 
by the fox as the two buckets pass. 

In this connection it is worthy of note that the notion 
of another world at the bottom of a deep well is not 
unknown to modern folk-lore. In France, we are told,* 
certain wells are so deep that they are supposed to reach 
a subterranean world. 

Other cycles of popular beast tales are told in parts 
of Germany and are recorded by J. Haltrich.^ One 
group of tales deals with the wolf alone, another with 
the fox alone, a third, a cycle of ten stories, with the 
relations of fox and wolf. In this cycle the well story 
follows the tale in which the fox, by feigning death, 
gets fish from a peasant. The wolf eats the fish and 
then, thirsty, is conducted by the fox to a well, where 
the buckets adventure occurs. 

What is the relation of these popular tales to the lit- 
erary versions ? In some cases probably we have to do 
with popular survivals of the oral sources of the beast- 
epic tales. In other cases the modern popular tales are 
probably derived from a literary source. It is probable 

1 p. Sebillot, Le Folk-lore de France^ II. 325. 

2 J. Haltrich, Zur Volkskunde der Siebenbiirger. 



3Introi)uction Hx 

that in modern popular story oral and literary streams 
of tradition meet. In the case of the German cycles of 
popular tales mentioned above. Wolf, the later editor of 
the collection by Haltrich, concludes that the tales are 
probably not derived from the earlier beast-epic, be- 
cause: ( I ) the central incident of the beast-epic, the ill- 
ness and healing of the lion and the trial of the fox, is 
absent, and the lion does not appear at all; (2) the 
beasts do not have proper names. Wolf concludes that 
these German popular tales probably have their source in 
the well-known German fable collections of the six- 
teenth century, by Burkhard Waldis in 1548 and by 
Erasmus Alberus in 1580. 

The well adventure has not been recorded among 
the popular beast tales collected in Africa.' Among the 
American negroes, ^ however, a similar tale is told in 
which it is the rabbit that outwits the fox, an oriental 
characteristic, since in oriental beast tales the jackal and 
hare, and occasionally the tortoise, divide the honors 
in the tales of trickery. 

The English tale of The Vox and the Wolf has been 
much admired and praised. It, perhaps more than any 
other EngHsh humorous poem before Chaucer, shows 
the buoyancy of spirit and lightness of touch that char- 
acterize some of the contemporary productions in 
French. Yet the English poem offers little that is new. 
It is probably based on a French original, and in cer- 
tain cases it has not reproduced its original very dis- 

1 Cf. A. Seidel, Geschichten der Afrikaner^ Berlin, 1896; Callaway, Nur- 
sery Tales of the Zulus^ London, 1868 j W. H. I. Bleek, Reineke Fuchs 
in Afrika^ Weimar, 1870. 

2 J. C. Harris, Uncle Remus : his songs and sayings^ no. 16. 



ix jflntrofiuction 

tinctly. This is evident particularly in the relation 
of the incident of the henyard with the well story. 
From references here and there (vv. 34, 40, 54, 55, 
98) throughout the tale, one must infer that Reneuard 
has devoured some, possibly three, of the hens, yet no 
mention is made of this fact. The most distinctive ad- 
dition in subject matter in the English version is the 
dialogue between cock and fox near the beginning. In 
the emphasis that he has given to this preliminary in- 
cident, the English writer resembles the author of the 
Dame Siriz and Chaucer in his Nonne Preestes Tale. 
The episode has little organic connection with the main 
incident and in a way mars the proportion of the nar- 
rative, yet it does contribute to the verisimilitude and 
the living interest of the story. In manner the English 
version lacks some of the very eiFective descriptive 
touches which make the movements and attitudes of fox 
and wolf, particularly in the simpler version of the 
French Roman de Renardy so lifelike. Perhaps the most 
distinctive quahty of the English version is not wit, but 
the humorous realization of the naivete in the characters 
of the beasts, shown where it is said of the fox. 

Him were leuere meten one hen 
Than half an oundred wimmen. 

and when the author remarks concerning the fox caught 
in the well. 

Hit mi^te han iben his wille 
To lete pat boket hongi stille. 

and in the cringing manner of the hungry wolf, when 
he says, 

* * Ich wende, al so opre dop 
l?at ich Iseie were sop."' 



3|ntrofluction ixi 

The poem is composed throughout in tetrameter 
couplets. The style is simple and in keeping with the 
subject matter, more so than in the Dame Siriz, The 
dialogue, particularly, is simple and natural. An inter- 
esting feature of the style is the use here and there of 
popular proverbial expressions, such as : 'pat ne can 
me]? to his mete,' 97; * Him is wo in euche londe, pat is 
pef mid his honde,' loi, 102. 

The date of composition was not far from 1275, as 
is shown by the age of the manuscript as well as by the 
character of the language. 

The dialect is Southern, as is evident by the spelling 
of the very title. Other indications are the frequent 
dropping or misplacing of initial h-, the use of initial 
W' for earlier hzv-, the forms azvecche, recche, the plural 
forms hennen, etc., the ending -ep in the third plural 
of the present indicative, the preservation of the prefix 
/- in verb forms. The West- Southern scribe betrays 
himself by the representation of O.E. y by u. The real 
pronunciation of this sound it is difficult to determine, 
since the rimes are not consistent. A Southeastern pro- 
nunciation seems to be indicated by such rimes as ; 
aquenchsy drunchey 13, 14, and sugge, abugge ; putte, 
mette. On the other hand such rimes as : kuTiy him ; 
sitte, putte, indicate a Midland pronunciation. 

Sir Cleges 

The third story of the present collection, that of Sir 
Cleges, is somewhat more than a century younger than 
the other two. The time of composition was not far 



ixii BlntroOttction 

from that of the Canterbury Tales. If there had been a 
minstrel in the famous company of pilgrims, this tale 
might with fitness have been attributed to him. Not 
only is the tail-rime stanza employed in the tale the fav- 
orite one in later minstrel stories, but the hero is par- 
ticularly a minstrel hero. The generosity of Sir Cleges is 
displayed particularly toward minstrels. At the Christ- 
mas feasts provided by Sir Cleges, the minstrels figure 
conspicuously, and the gifts of 

Hors and robys and rych thynges, 
Gold and syluer and oJ?er thynges 

make it easy to believe in the sincerity of the words of 
the minstrel in the Edinburgh manuscript, 

** We mynstrellys mysse hym sekyrly, 

Scth he went out of cuntrc." (vv. 496, 497.) 

The animus^ against porters and their kind is appropri- 
ate to minstrels and appears not infrequently in minstrel 
tales. Furthermore in the Edinburgh text the minstrel 
is actually represented as singing before King Uther a 
*'gest" concerning the virtues of Cleges. The tale, 
then, may be regarded as a minstrel tale, exemplifying 
many of the qualities of style that Chaucer so gleefully 
burlesqued in his tale of Sir Thopas. 

The story of Sir Cleges seems to have been a min- 
strel's Christmas story, for it will be noticed that the 
idea of Christmas is everywhere prominent. The lavish 
hospitality of Cleges was particularly displayed in the 
annual Christmas feasts, the loss of his property is par- 
ticularly due to Christmas generosity, and the miracle 
through which he was restored to prosperity was a 

I Cf. King Horn^ Sir Tristrem, and the ballad of Hind Etin, 



idntroDuctton ixiii 

Christmas miracle. Doubtless the story was one which 
the minstrel loved to tell to encourage liberality at Yule- 
tide feasts, and we can readily understand why to the 
listeners at Christmas entertainments this tale might be 
a favorite one in the minstrel repertory. 

The story is one with an evident moral. This moral 
is enforced by a narrative of dual character. Probably 
what was intended to be the main theme, was the gen- 
erosity of Cleges rewarded in this life by divine inter- 
position; what was possibly not intended as the prin- 
cipal element, but which nevertheless most catches the 
attention and clings longest to the memory, is the re- 
verse of this, the greed of the king's servants punished 
with logical justice. The unity in the story is to be found 
only in the presentation of the opposite rewards of 
generosity and of greed. If we look at the story in this 
way, we see a logical appropriateness in the inclusion 
of the humorous anecdote of the strokes shared within 
the pious tale of generosity divinely rewarded. 

The man who has spent all his goods in generosity is 

by no means a unique character in romantic story. The 

close resemblance between the beginning of Sir Cleges 

and that of Sir Amadace ^ has often been remarked. 

In the fifteenth-century tale of The Knight and his 

fVyfe 2 also, the knight 

. . . eche ^ere was wont to mak 
A gret fest for oure lady sake. 
But he spendyt so largely 
That in poverte he fel in hye. 

1 Three Early English Metrical Romances (ed. Robson), Camden So- 
ciety, London, 1842. 

2 Remains of the Early Popular Poetry of England, by W. C. Hazlitt, 
London, 1866, vol. 11. 



ixiv jflntroDuctton 

In the late ballad, A True Tale of Robin Hood (Child, 
no. 154), we learn how Robin Hood, Earl of Hunt- 
ington, consumed his wealth in * wine and costly 
cheere.' In the versions of the Launfal story also, in 
the Launfal^ by Thomas Chestre and the later version. 
Sir Lamb ewe II y^ we meet a similar character. In the 
Launfal we read how. 

He gaf gyftys largelyche, 
Gold, and sylver, and clodes ryche, 
To squyer and to knyght. 

The manner, however, in which the knight is re- 
stored to prosperity is widely different in these different 
tales. In the Sir Amadace, the account of the gener- 
ous knight serves as an introduction to an interesting 
version of the well known folk tale of the ' grateful 
dead.' In The Knyght and his Wyfe, it introduces a 
story of the direct interposition of the Virgin Mary, 
one of the Mary legends which were so popular in 
contemporary French literature. In the True Tale of 
Robin Hood, it introduces the well known ballad story 
of outlawry. In the Launfal stories, it introduces a talc 
of aid through the fairy mistress Trieamour. The tale of 
Sir Cleges is unlike any of these others. If classified ac- 
cording to its first element, it would be classed as a dit 
or conte devot, or perhaps better, as a legend, if Sir 
Cleges may be regarded as one of Saint Julian's devotees, 
a martyr to hospitality. 

The means of relief in the case of Sir Cleges, the 
miracle of the cherries at Christmas time, is as pleasing 

1 Launfal (ed. Ritson), reprinted, Edinburgh, 1891. 

2 Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript (ed. Hales and Furnivall), London, 
1867, vol. I. 



3Intro8uction ixv 

as in any of the similar stories mentioned. Similar mira- 
cles figure not infrequently in romantic and legendary 
story. In the legend of St. Dorothy ' we read how in 
response to the prayer of the chaste maiden, a fair child 
appears with a basket of roses and apples, which Doro- 
thy sends to Theophilus. In the D e earner on y^ Ansaldo, 
the lover of Dianara, successfully accomplishes the sup- 
posedly impossible task imposed upon him, and on the 
first of January made to spring up a beautiful garden 
from which he picked the fairest fruits and flowers and 
sent as an unwelcome gift to the surprised lady. In the 
Ludus Coventriae^ (^v), in the play on **The Birth 
of Christ," when Joseph and Mary are on the way to 
Bethlehem in the winter time, a cherry-tree, at first 
bare, successively blooms, bears ripe cherries, and finally 
bends down to Joseph whom Mary wishes to pluck 
cherries for her. 4 Ability to exhibit fruit out of season 
was also one of the accomplishments of the popular he- 
roes of magic. Friar Bacon and Doctor Faustus.s None 

I Caxton, Golden Legend^ Life of St. Dorothy, 
1 Tenth day. Novella 5. 

3 Ed. Halliwell, Shakspeare Soc. London, 1841. Halliwell points out 
that " this fable of the cherry tree is the subject of a well known Christmas 
carol, which has been printed by Hone, yfnciVn/ Mysteries Described,''^ p.go, 

4 That similar stories circulate in modem folk-tales is shown by H. Finck 
in the New Tork Evening Post (quoted by the Literary Digest^ Jan. 7, 
191 1). He cites a French folk-tale of the Department of lUe-et-Vilainc, of 
an apple-tree. Mary wished to taste the fruit, and Joseph refused to gather 
the apples for her, saying it was a shame to touch the apple-tree at Christ- 
mas time. Whereupon the branches, of their own accord, bent down, and 
Mary plucked the fruit. Joseph then tried to pick some of the apples for 
himself, but the branches suddenly returned on high. 

5 W. C. Hazlitt, National Tales and Legends,^ London, 1899, p. 75. 
Hazlitt cites other parallels, among them " Another story of this kind in 
Painter's ^Palace of Pleasure.' " E. K. Chambers {The Mediaeval Stage, 
1. 252, 255) cites the thirteenth-century Vita of St. Hadwigis, in which 
appears the story of trees in bloom in mid-winter, and gives reference to a 
number of parallel stories. The miracle of the Glastonbury thorn might 
also be cited in this connection. 



ixvi 3flntrotittction 

of these stories, however, is more pleasing than that of 

Sir Cleges, who after kneeling in prayer ** underneth a 

chery-tre," in rising takes a branch in his hand, and — 

Gren leuys )?er-on he fond 
And ronde beryes in fere. 

The cherries have an appropriateness in English story. 
They have always been a favorite fruit among the Eng- 
lish. In Piers Plowman (A 7,281) poor people are 
represented as eating ''ripe chiries monye," ^ and one 
of the English popular institutions was the cherry fair ^ 
held in cherry orchards. But the presentation of a gift 
to the king seems not so appropriate to English story. 
It is hazardous to form a judgment concerning the origin 
of a winged tale like the present one, but the presenta- 
tion of gifts to a king, although not infrequent in Eu- 
ropean folk-tales, seems like an oriental feature and 
is especially frequent in oriental story. According to 
Clouston,3 << All great men in the East expect a present 
from a visitor, and look upon themselves as affronted, 
and even defrauded, when the compliment is omitted. 
See I Samuely ix, 7, and Isaiah, Ivii, 9." The same cus- 
tom persists to-day among African tribes, one is told. 

Combined with the tale of generosity divinely re- 
compensed is another story, of greed requited. As has 
been said, it is not easy to determine whether the au- 
thor of Sir Cleges intended this second story as an epi- 
sode in the story of the generous knight or if he intended 
the first part of the story to serve as a setting for the 
widely known story of the blows shared. If we judge 
by the structure of such a story as Chaucer's Nonne 

I Version C. " chiries sam-rede." 

% Brand, Popular Antiquities^ II. 457. 

3 Popular Tales and Fictions^ Edinburgh, 1887, ii. 467. 



31ntrotiuction ixvii 

Preestes Tale we may conclude that the second part 
was intended as the piece de resistance. In any case the 
author has devoted nearly half of his narrative to the 
second element, and it is this part of the story which 
provides the greater amount of entertainment whether to 
the modern reader or to the medieval listener. 

The story of the man who is made to promise a share 
of an expected reward to one or more greedy servants 
and who, therefore, chooses blows for his reward, is 
one of the most wide-spread of tales. The universality 
of its theme makes it appropriate to any nation and to 
any time, and for that reason it is not possible to assign 
it to any nationality. The nature of the tale is such that 
it would be vain to attempt to discover the exact inter- 
relations between the score and more of different extant 
versions. 

The definiteness of the underlying idea in this story 
rendered it especially suitable for oral transmission. 
Hence it is not surprising to find it circulating widely as 
a folk-tale. Among the Arabs it was well known. M. 
Rene Basset ^ cites the following version. A eunuch 
promises El Mo'tadhib, the Prince of the Faithful, to 
bring him a man to make him laugh. He introduces a 
street story-teller named Ibn el Maghazik, but exacts 
from him a promise of half the expected reward. Ibn 
fails, and is ordered to be given ten strokes. He asks 
that the ten be made twenty. When he has received 
ten, he explains that the other half of the reward is to 
go to the eunuch. The king laughs. 

I Rene Basset, Contes et Legendes Arabes^ no. 57, Rev. des trad. pop. 
XII. 675-7 M. Basset cites several other Arabic versions of this story, 
besides two Italian folk-tales. 



ixviii 3fIntroDttction 

Another » Arabic version passed over among the 
Berbers. A chief bids his servant find a man to make 
him laugh. If the chief is made to laugh, he w^ill pay a 
hundred reaux ; if not, a hundred blows. The servant 
brings El' Askolani, but demands half of the reaux in 
case of success. EF Askolani fails, and the chief orders 
that one hundred strokes be given. When the story- 
teller has received fifty, he bids give the remaining ^^\.y 
to the servant, at the same time explaining the servant's 
stipulation. The chief doubles up w^ith laughter and 
gives Er Askolani one hundred reaux. 

An Italian popular tale, in which a stupid boy pre- 
sents a fine fish to the king, but is made to promise 
shares of the expected reward to three servants, is told 
by Marc. Monnier.^ A Greek popular story with a sim- 
ilar beginning but with the conclusion rendered ineffec- 
tive, is told by E. Legrand.3 From Italy John G. Saxe 
supposedly derived the version that he tells under the 
title, '* The Nobleman, the Fisherman, and the Porter, 
An Italian Legend. ' ' In Italy the story is also told by 
Sacchetti-* and by Straparola.5 In Spain it appears in 
the Cuentos de Juan Ar agones,^ no. 3. In Sweden it 
is produced by Backstrom in his Svenske Voksbocker{z^ 

1 R. Basset, Nouveaux Contes Berbires^ Paris, 1897, no. II9, " Part a 
deux.^^ In this volume M. Basset discusses numerous other versions, in 
Arabic, Italian, German, and French. 

2 Les Contes Populaires en Italie^ pp. 236, 237. An Italian version, Ne- 
rucci, Sessanta Novelle Populari Montalesi^ Florence, 1880, Nov 27, La 
Novella di Sonno^ pp. 233-7. 

3 Recueil de Contes Populaires Grecs^ Paris, 1881, pp. 53-55. 

4 Novelle^ Milano, 1815, vol. ill. p. 169. 

5 Notti Piacevoli^ Notta 7, Favola 3. 

6 Another Spanish version cited by Oesterley (in his edition of Schimpf 
und Ernst) is that in the Margerita Facetiarum, Alfonsi Aragon, Reg. 
Vafrcdicti, etc., Argent. 1508, p. 4b. 



31ntrol)uction ixix 

p. 78, n. 30). In Germany it appears in Pauli's 
Schimpf und Ernst (no. 614), in Grimm's Kinder 
und Hausmdrchen (no. 7), and in a poem by C. F. 
G. Hahn,' organist at Dargun, entitled ' ^ Wallenstein 
und der kiihne Pferdehirte aus der Umgegend von Gust- 
row. ' ' 

In the world's noodle literature the story is one fre- 
quently occurring. The adventure is attributed to the 
famous Turkish court-fool, Nasureddin Chodscha,^ who 
presented early cucumbers to Tamburlane. In German 
jest-books it was one of the best-known adventures of 
the celebrated Pfarrer von Kalenberg.3 In England a 
similar story appears in ** The Pleasant Conceites of 
Old Hobson the Merry Londoner." 4 

The same story appears in the form of anecdotes 
connected with various persons. The anecdote is told 
of the Italian actor Mezzetin 5 (fl. 1688-97). Mezze- 
tin had dedicated a piece to the Duke of Saint Aignan, 
who paid liberally for dedications. He called on the 
Duke. The Swiss guard, suspecting the purpose of his 
visit, was unwilling to admit him. Mezzetin offered 
him a third of the expected gift. On the stairway he 
was obliged to make the same promise to the first 
lackey, and in the ante-chamber a like one to the valet 
de chambre. When he came into the presence of the 

1 Mecklenburg's Folks-Sagen^ col. & ed. by A. Niederhoffer, Leipzig, 
1859, III. 196-199. 

2 Flogel, Geschichte der Hofnarren^ 176-178. 

I F. W. Ebeling, Die Kahlenberger^ Berlin, 1890 ; F. Bobertag, Narren^ 
buck, Berlin, 1885, pp. 7-86; F. H. von der Hagen, Narrenbuch^ HzUe, 
1811, pp. 271-352; Lyrum Larum Lyrissimum^ I700,no. 184; Henrici Be- 
belii, Facetiarum^ Tubingen, 1544, Lib. ii. (The last two references are 
from Liebrecht-Dunlop, History of Fiction ^11. 153 note.) 

4 W. C. Hazlitt, Shakespeare^ Jest Books^ p. 40, no. 24. 

5 L. Moland, Moliere et la Comedie Italienne^ pp. 375-6. 



ixx 31ntroi)uction 

Duke, Mezzetin said, ** Here is a theatrical piece 
which I take the liberty of presenting to you and for 
which I ask that you give me a hundred coups de baion,'*^ 
On hearing Mezzetin' s explanation, the Duke gave the 
servants a severe reprimand and sent i oo louis to Mez- 
zetin' s wife, who had promised nothing to the servants. 
TallemantdesReaux^ tells the same anecdote concerning 
the actor Jodelet. In this case the actor asked his pa- 
tron, the Chancellor Sequier, to distribute a hundred 
coups de baton among four valets de chambre who had 
successively exacted promises. 

This story, appearing so frequently in folk- tale, in 
jest-book, and in biographical anecdote, has a very 
obvious moral. This moral element made the story a 
useful one to the medieval preacher, and it appears in 
books ofexempla. In the Summa Praedicantium of John ^ 
of Bromyard it appears (fol. C xiii. b) under the 
heading Invidia. This exemplum, which is reprinted 
in Wright's ''Latin Stories," 3 runs as follows : ' A cer- 
tain man coming to the Emperor Frederick with fruits 
of which the Emperor was very fond, was unable to 
gain admittance unless he should pay to the door keeper 
half his gain. The emperor, delighted with the fruits, 
bade the bearer ask for something in return. The man 
asked that the emperor command that a hundred blows 
be given him. When the emperor learned the cause, he 
ordered the blows of the bearer of the fruits, to be paid 
lightly, those of the door keeper, heavily. ' Another in- 
teresting exemplum version of the story is that in the 

1 Tallemant des Reaux, Memoirs of Chancellor Sequier. 

2 See Bibliography. 

3 Percy Society Publications, viii. 122. 



3Introfiuccion ixxi 

English Gesta Romanorum,^ no, xc. This version, 
like the one in the Sir Cleges, has an elaborate intro- 
duction. In certain essential details also it closely resem- 
bles the Sir C leges version. A king had tw^o sons. To 
one he gave his kingdom; to the other, a prodigal, he 
gave the choice betw^een two caskets. The chosen 
casket contained tw^enty shillings; to these the king 
added a penny. Thus provided, the prince met a man 
with a pannier containing a wonderful fish with gold 
head, silver body and green tail. He bought the fish 
for twenty shillings and paid the remaining penny for 
the pannier. He bore the pannier with the fish to the 
manor house of a great lord. The porter demanded the 
head of the fish, and instead of it the prince promised 
him half the expected reward. The usher of the hall 
demanded the body and was promised half of the re- 
maining reward. The chamberlain, who demanded the 
tail, was promised half the remaining part. The noble 
lord, upon receipt of the gift, bade the prince ask a boon. 
The servants advised various requests, but the prince 
asked twelve buffets. The lord granted the request re- 
garding the buffets to be divided, but threw in for good 
measure his daughter and his kingdom for the prince 
alone. 

The great variety ^ in the forms of this popular tale 
will have been noticed. The one who asks for the blows 

1 E. E. T. S. Extra series, xxxiii. 413-416, no. xc. 

2 There are in circulation many similar tales, such as the Tale of the 
Three Wishes (cf. Bedier, pp. 220, 22l), the Dit du Buffet (cf. Montaig- 
lon et Raynaud, Notes) the Envious and the Avaricious {ci. J. W. Jacobs, 
op. cit.., Notes), besides scattering folk-tales and adventures like those of 
Til Eulenspiegel. Most like of all, and closely associated with the story of 
the blows shared, is the one called " Luckily they are not Peaches " (Cfc 
W. A. Clouston, Pop. Tales & Fictions^ II. 467 ff.) 



ixxii 3Introiiuctton 

is in one story a groom, in another a prince; in one a 
stupid peasant boy, in another a witty actor. The num- 
ber of greedy servants varies from one to four, of the 
blows, from two to five hundred. The variety of gifts 
offered in the different versions includes cucumbers, ap- 
ples, berries, cherries, a falcon, and a fish, or the offer- 
ing is a good story or a good play. The tale is told merely 
to excite a laugh, or to point a moral. The people who 
tell it are Berbers in Africa, Arabs in Asia, Germans, 
Swedes, Spaniards, Greeks, Italians, and English in 
Europe. But in all its migrations and with all the vari- 
ation in detail, the essential idea remains constant. 

None of the versions of this protean tale known to 
the present writer could have served as the exact original 
for the English Sir Cleges, Nor is it known who was 
the author or whether the English story is a translation 
from the French or an original English composition. But 
though singularly neglected ' by earlier literary historians, 
it is a highly interesting composition. Its faults are evi- 
dent. It is a mongrel composition consisting oi^i fabliau 
tale forming an episode in a conte devot and the whole 
provided with an Arthurian setting. The scenes of the 
story in general lack the distinctness which usually char- 
acterizes the scenes in Chaucer's works. The characters 
lack the many-sidedness of reality; they are little more 
than types. For instance there is little attempt to dis- 
tinguish between the porter, the usher, and the steward. 
Each represents the same type, that of the greedy ser- 
vant. The description of Sir Cleges is like that burlesqued 

I The story of Sir Cleges is not mentioned by Korting, nor by Ten 
Brink ; Jusserand mentions it only in a footnote. 



iflntroBuction ixxiii 

in Sir Thopas, The manner too is stiff; the humorous 
anecdote is not presented in correspondingly humorous 
style. But with all these faults, the story is a pleasing one. 
Besides the interest it affords as a narrative, the story, 
while not offering clear pictures, does give interesting 
details of minstrel customs, of life in the hall, of domes- 
tic relations and of Christmas cheer. There is a sweet 
domesticity in the scene where, after Cleges has been 
comforted by his loyal wife, * they wash and go to meat ' 
and then * drive the time away with mirth ' in playing 
with their children, and a prettiness of detail in the scene 
where Cleges, kneeling in prayer under the tree, finds 
the branch in his hand covered with green leaves and 
* beryes ' in clusters. The last part of the story makes 
up in comedy of situation what it lacks in appropriateness 
to the main theme. It is this part of the story which is 
told with greatest gusto. The truculent manners of the 
king's attendants are brought out with great distinctness 
by the minstrel who doubtless had himself experienced 
treatment similar to that experienced by Sir Cleges and 
been obliged to sit in the * beggars row. ' The minstrel 
lingers with evident satisfaction over the details of the 
blows paid to the servants. 

The fyrst stroke he leyd hym onne, 
He brake a-two hys schulder bone, 
And hys ryjht armc also. 

There are no fine shades of humor here, but doubtless 
the details were relished by a gleeman's audience, and 
they are not entirely unpalatable to the modern reader, 
it must be confessed. 

The Sir Cleges is preserved in two paper manuscripts. 



ixxiv ^Introtiuction 

both belonging to the end of the fifteenth century; one 
MS. Jac. V. 7, 27, in the Advocates' Library at Edin- 
burgh, the other, Ashmole MS. 61, in the Bodleian 
Library at Oxford. The text of the Edinburgh manu 
script was printed by Henry Weber, in his Metrical 
Romances y Edinburgh, 1810, i. 329 if. The two texts 
have been printed in parallel columns by A. Treichel, 
Englische Studien, xxii. 374 if. The Oxford text is 
printed in the present volume. 

Between the texts in these two manuscripts there are 
many points of difference ^ in detail. As has been said, 
the story is a minstrel story, and it has evidently been 
written down twice independently, from oral recitation 
or from memory. The differences are such as one would 
expect to originate in oral transmission. Neither manu- 
script is derived from the other; both texts go back to a 
common original, and in each appear variations originat- 
ing in the independent line of transmission. The two 
manuscripts complement each other admirably. When 
single lines, or more frequently, three lines, of a stanza, 
are missing in one, they can be supplied from the other. 
In some important details the Edinburgh text is the 
better one, but in the present volume the Oxford text 
has been printed because the Edinburgh lacks some stan- 
zas at the end. The Edinburgh text has, however, been 
used to supply lines missing in the Oxford text. The 
most important variations are indicated in the notes. 

The verse form used in thetS/r C leges is the twelve-line 

I Treichel, op. cit. pp. 559 fF., gives a careful discussion of the differences 
between the two manuscripts. The Edinburgh MS. has 531 verses, the Ox- 
ford 570. Only 180 lines, about one third, are exactly alike. Of the remain- 
der, 108 differ in one word, so that nearly half the verses are unlike in sev- 
eral words, or entirely unlike. 



^IntroDuction ixxv 

tail-rime stanza. The regular rime scheme h a a b c c b 
d d b e e b. Variations from this scheme are found in the 
Oxford manuscript only in stanzas i6, 17, 19, 33, 41, 
46 and 47. Assonance appears in a few instances. There 
are also a few instances of impure rime, but several of 
the apparent instances are due to the scribe. Alliteration 
is not an organic feature of the verse, but occurs occa- 
sionally, either through the survival of old formulae or 
through the use of two words with the same root. For 
a detailed discussion of the metrical features, seeTreichel, 
op. cit, 364 if. 

The dialect of the original work is somewhat disguised 
on account of scribal peculiarities. In the Oxford man- 
uscript appear frequent Scottish features. From the ev- 
idence, however, of the rimes common to the two ver- 
sions and of the inflectional forms, Treichel {op, cit, 
371 fF. ) concludes that the original work was composed 
in the northern part of the Midland of England. In the 
present volume the different inflectional forms will be 
found registered in the glossary. 

From the evidence of the rimes i^t, yie and ee, y, 
Treichel {op, cit, 374) sets the date of composition at 
not earlier than the beginning of the fifteenth century. 



Ci come«ce le fablel et la cointisc dc dame siriz. 

As I com bi an waie, 
Hof on ich herde sale, 

Ful modi mon and proud ; 
Wis he wes of lore, 
And gou|;lich vnder gore, 5 

And cloj7ed in fair sroud. 

To louien he bigon 
On wedded wimmon, 

per-of he heuede wrong ; 
His herte hire wes alon, lo 

pat reste neuede he non, 

pe loue wes so strong. 

Wei jerne he him bi)?oute 
Hou he hire gete moute 

In ani cunnes wise. 15 

In the variant readings, W. = Wright, M. = Matzner. Besides 
the variants indicated W. & M. have regularly e/i for p and v for 
consonantal u. In the text of the present volume the punctuation 
is supplied by the editor. 

Title. MS. comece, W. fables, MS. fablel. — 7 W. & M. be- 
gon. — 9 W. & M. Therof. — 13 W. & M. bi-thoute. 



2 SPame ^ivi^ 

pat befel on an day 
pe louerd wend away 

Hon his marchaundise. 



He wente him to )7en inne 

per hoe wonede inne, 20 

pat wes riche won ; 
And com in to )?en halle, 
per hoe wes srud wi)? palle, 

And J?us he bigon : — 

CC^^^ od almijtten be her-inne! " 25 

■ ^ cc Welcome, so ich euer bide wenne," 
^^-^ Q«^d J?is wif. 

" His hit ];i wille, com and site, 

And wat is pi wille let me wite, 

Mi leuelif. 30 

Bi houre louerd, heuene-king, 
If I mai don ani J?ing 

pat |7e is lef, 
pou mijtt finden me ful fre. 
Fol ble|7eli willi don for }?e, 35 

Wi)?-houten gref." 

22 W. & M. into, M. them. — 25 MS. her inne. — 27 W„ & 
M. Quod. — 28 W. & M. comme. — 30 W. & M. leva lif. — 36 
MS. W\\> houten, W. & M. Withhouten. 



mnmt ^iti} 3 

" Dame, god })e foqelde, 

Bote on J?at ];ou me nout bimelde, 

Ne make J;e wro}?, 
Min hernde willi to )?e bede ; 40 

Bote wra]?}?en )7e for ani dede 

Were me lo];." 

*' Nai I-wis, wilekin, 

For no-)?ing |7at euer is min, 

pau )?ou hit jirne, 45 

Houncurteis ne willi be; 
Ne con I nout on vilte, 

Ne nout I nelle lerne. 

pou mait saien al }^ine wille, 

And I shal herknen and sitten stille, 50 

pat J70U haue told. 
And if )?at )?ou me tellest skil, 
I shal don after ]?i wil, 

pat be J;ou bold. 

And J;au )7ou saie me ani same, 55 

Ne shal I {^e noui^t blame 

For }?i sawe." 
" Nou ich haue wonne leue, 
3if )?at I me shulde greue, 

Hit were hounlawe. 60 

37 W. & M. for-^elde. — 38 W. & M. bi melde. —43 W. & 
M. i-wis. — 44 MS. no }>ing- — 49 M. alle. — 60 W. & M. 
hounlaw. 



4 SDame ^iri? 

Certes, dame, );ou seist as hende, 
And I shal setten spel on ende, 

And tellen );e al, 
Wat ich wolde, and wi ich com ; 
Ne con ich saien non falsdom, 65 

Ne non I ne shal. 

Ich habbe I-loued }7e moni jer, 
pau ich nabbe nout ben her 

Mi loue to schowe. 
Wile J^i louerd is in toune, 70 

Ne mai no mon wi]? )?e holden roune 

Wip no J^ewe. 

^urstendai ich herde saie, 
As ich wende bi J7e waie, 

Of oure sire ; 75 

Me tolde me )7at he was gon 
To J^e feire of botolfston 

In lincolne-schire. 

And for ich weste )7at he ves houte, 
parfore ich am I-gon aboute 80 

To speken wi)? |?e. 
Him bur)? to liken wel his lif, 
pat mijtte welde secc a vif 

In priuite. 

64 W. &M. What. — 67 W. &M.i-loved. — 73 W. & M. 
jursten-dai. — 78 W. & M. Lincolneschire, MS. lincolnc schire. 
— 80 W. & M. i-gon. — 83 W. sett, M. selc. 



E>ame ^iti} 5 

Dame, if hit is ]}i wille, 85 

BoJ; dernelike and stille, 

Ich vville );e loue." 
''pat woldi don for non )?in[g], 
Bi houre louerd, heuene-king, 

pat ous is boue! 90 

Ich habe mi louerd )7at is mi spouse, 
pat maiden broute me to house 

Mid menske I-nou ; 
He loue]? me and ich him wel, 
Oure loue is also trewe as stel, 95 

WiJ?-houten wou. 

pau he be from hom on his hernde, 
Ich were ounseli, if ich lernede 

To ben on hore. 
pat ne shal neuere be, 100 

pat I shal don selk falsete. 

On bedde ne on flore. 

Neuer more his lif-wile, 
Thau he were on hondred mile 

Bi-^ende rome, 105 

For no J;ing ne shuldi take 
Mon on er^e to ben mi make, 

Ar his hom-come." 

88 MS. Km. — 92 M. meiden. — 93 W. & M. i-nou. MS. I 
nou. — 96 W. & M. With houten, MS. Wij? houten. — loi W. 
& M. falsete. — 105 MS. Bi jende rome. — 106 W. & M. shuld I. 



u 



Dame ^iri? 

ame, dame, torn pi mod; 

pi curteisi was euer god, no 

And jet shal be ; 
For ]7e louerd ]?at ous haue)? wrout, 
Amend yi mod, and torn J?! ]70ut, 
And rew on me." 



D 



"We, we ! oldest )?ou me a fol ? 115 

So ich euer mote biden jol, 

pou art ounwis. 
Mi ]7out ne shalt )?ou newer wende; 
Mi louerd is curteis mon and hende. 

And mon of pris ; 120 

And ich am wif bo)7e god and trewe; 
Trewerwomon ne mai no mon cnowe 

pen ich am. 
pilke time ne shal neuer bitide 
pat mon for wouing ne )?oru prude 125 

Shal do me scham." 

" Swete leumon, merci ! 
Same ne vilani 

Ne bede I ]?e non ; 
Bote derne loue I ]7e bede, 130 

As mon |?at wolde of loue spede. 

And fi[n]de won." 

124 W. & M. bi-tide. — 127 W. & M. lemmon, MS. lenmon, 
or leumon (?). — 132 MS. & W. fide. 



ISDante ^iri? 7 

" So bide Ich euere mete o|7er drinke, 

Her J?ou lesest al )7i swinke ; 

pou mijt gon horn, leue bro)7er, 135 

For [ne] wille ich |?e loue, ne non o]?er, 

Bote mi wedde houssebonde; 

To tellen hit )?e ne wille ich wonde." 
'' Certes, dame, |?at me for|?inke]? ; 

An[d] wo is l^e mon ]?a [t] muchel swinke]?, 140 

And at )?e laste lese]? his sped ! 

To maken menis his him ned. 

Bi me I saie ful I-wis, 

pat loue )?e loue J?at I shal mis. 

An[d], dame, haue nou godnedai! 145 

And J?ilke louerd, |?at al welde mai, 

Leue )?at yi }?out so tourne, 

pat ihc for ];e no leng ne mourne." 

Dreri-mod he wente awai. 

And );oute boJ?e nijt and dai 150 

Hire al for to wende. 
A frend him radde for to fare. 
And leuen al his muchele kare, 

To dame siriz }7e hende. 

133 W. & M. ich. — 136 MS. om. * ne.' — 139 W. & M. 
for-thinketh. — 140 MS. An, W. & M. And, MS. pa. — 143 
W. & M. i-wis. MS. I. wis. — 145 MS. An. W. & M. godne dai. — 
149 M. Dreri-mod. — 154 MS. siriz, as usually. 



8 mumt ^iti} 

pider he wente him anon, 155 

So sui)7e so he mijtte gon, 

No mon he ni mette. 
Ful he wes of tene and treie ; 
Mid wordes milde and eke sleie 

Faire he hire grette. 160 



(C 



God ]?e I-blessi, dame siriz ! 
Ich am I-com to speken J?e wiz, 

For ful muchele nede. 
And ich mai haue help of ]?€ 
pou shalt haue, ]?at ];ou shalt se, 16^ 

Ful riche mede." 



(C 



Welcomen art )70u, leue sone ; 
And if ich mai o]?er cone 
In eni wise for }?e do, 
I shal streng]?en me ]?er-to. 
For-|?i, leue sone, tel J?ou me 
Wat )7ou woldest I dude for ]7e." 
" Bote, leue nelde, ful euele I fare ; 
I lede mi lif wi)? tene and kare; 

Wi]? muchel hounsele ich lede mi lif, 
And )7at is for on suete wif 
pat heijtte margeri. 

161 W. & M. i-blessi. MS. I. blessi. — 162 W. & M. i-com. 
MS. I-com. — 170 W. & M. ther-to. — 171 W. & M. For-thi. 
— 173 W. & M. Neldc. 



170 



175 



Ich haue I-loued hire moni dai, 
And of hire loue hoe seiz me nai ; 
Hider ich com for-j7i. 



180 



Bote if hoe wende hire mod, 
For serewe mon ich wakese wod, 

0)?er mi selue quelle. 
Ich heuede I-J?out miself to slo ; 
For-)7en radde a frend me go 185 

To )7e mi sereue telle. 

He saide me, wi);-houten faille, 
pat |?ou me cou]?est helpe and uaile, 

And bringen me of wo 
poru ]?ine crafFtes and ]?ine dedes ; 190 

And ich wile jeue ];e riche mede, 

Wi}? J?at hit be so." 

" Benedicite be herinne ! 

Her hauest |7ou, sone, mikel senne. 

Louerd, for his suete nome, 195 

Lete ]7e |;erfore hauen no shome ! 

pou seruest affter godes grome, 

Wen }70u seist on me silk blame. 

For ich am old, and sek and lame ; 

Seknesse haue)? maked me ful tame. 200 

178 W. & M. i-loved. MS. I. loued. — 179 W. & M. selth. 
— 180 W. & M. for-thi. — 183 W. & M. miselve. — 184 W. 
& M. i-thout. — 187 W. & M. withhouten. — 188 W. & M. vaile. 



10 SDantf ^ixi} 

Blesse ]?e, blesse );e, leue knaue ! 

Leste |70u mes-auenter haue, 

For J?is lesing )?at is founden 

Opp-on me, j^at am harde I-bonden. 

Ich am on holi wimon, 205 

On wicchecrafFt nout I ne con, 

Bote wi)? gode men almesdede. 

like dai mi lif I fede, 

And bidde mi pat^r nost^r and mi crede, 

pat goed hem heipe at hore nede, ^lo 

pat helpen me mi lif to lede, 

And leue )>at hem mote wel spede. 

His lif and his soule wor]?e I-shend, 

pat )?e to me |7is hernde haue]? send ; 

And leue me to ben I-wreken 215 

On him )?is shome me haue|? spek^«." 

tWTT cue nelde, bilef al };is ; 

I Me )7inke)? ]?a[t] )70u art onwis. 

— pe mon J^at me to ]}e taute, 
He weste j^at ]7ou hous cou]7est saute. 220 

Help, dame siri)?, if )?ou maut, 
To make me wi)? ]?e sueting saut, 

201 W. & M. bless. — 202 W. & M. mesaventer, MS. mes 
auenter. — 204 W. & M. Oppon, i-bonden, MS. I bonden. — 
207 W. & M. witchecrafft. — 209 W. & M. pater-noster. — 
213 W. & M. i-shend. — 215 W. & M. i-wreken. — 216 W. 
& M. speken. — 217 W. & M. Nelde. bi-lef. — 218 MS. ]?a ; 
W. & M. that. — 220 W. touhest, MS. coupest or tou)>est(?). 



u 



And ich wille geue J;e gift ful stark, 

Moni a pound and moni a marke, 

Warme pilche and warme shon, 2*5 

Wij? ])2Lt min hernde be wel don J 

Of muchel godlec mijt |?ou jelpe, 

If hit be so |7at |70u me helpe." 

Lij me nout, wilekin, bi J^i leute 

Is hit )?in hernest }?ou tekest me ? 230 

Louest }?ou wel dame margeri ? " 

" ^e, nelde, witerii ; 
Ich hire loue, hit mot me spille, 
Bote ich gete hire to mi wille." 

" Wat, god wilekin, me rewej? ]7i scaj?e, 235 
Houre louerd sende J?e help raj?e ! 

Weste hie hit mijtte ben forholen, 
Me wolde ]?unche wel solen 

pi wille for to fullen. 
Make me siker wi]? word on honde, 240 

pat ]?ou wolt helen, and I wile fonde 

If ich mai hire tellen. 

For al l^e world ne woldi nout 
pat ich were to chapitre I-brout 

For none selke werkes. ^45 

224 MS. apound, amarke. — 230 W. tehest, M. techest. — 
232 W. & M. Nelde. — 235 MS. wilekin. — 236 MS. louerd. 
— 237 W. & M. for-holen. — 244 W. & M. i-brout. 



12 SDame ^ivi^^ 

Mi iugement were sone I-giuen 
To ben wi); shome somer driuen 
Wip prestes and with clarkes." 

" I-wis, nelde, ne woldi 250 

pat J70U heuedest uilani 

Ne shame for mi goed. 
Her I )7e mi trouJ;e plijtte, 
Ich shal helen bi mi mijtte, 
Bi )?e holi roed ! " 



»55 



" Welcome, wilekin, hiderward ; 
Her hauest I-maked a fo reward 

pat ])G mai ful wel like, 
pou maijt blesse J;ilke si]?, 
For ]?ou maijt make |>e ful bli)? ; 
Dar J?ou namore sike. 



260 



To goder-hele euer come }7ou hider. 
For sone willi gange p>ider, 

And maken hire hounderstonde. 
I shal kenne hire sulke a lore ; 265 

pat hoe shal louien ]?e mikel more 

pen ani mon In londe." 

246 W. & M. jugement, i-given. — 249 W. & M. I-wis, Nelde. 
— 250 W. & M. vilani. — 255 MS. wilekin. 256 W. & M. 
i-maked. — 26 1 W. To geder hele, M. To goder hele. W. & M. 
hide[r]. — 264 MS. alore. — 266 W. & M. in. 



" Al so haul godes grij;, 
Wei hauest J?ou said, dame siri]?. 

And goder-hele shal ben J?in. 
Haue her twenti shiling, 270 

pis ich jeue ]?e to meding, 

To buggen }7e sep and swin." 

" So ich euere brouke hous o]?er flet, 
Neren neuer penes beter biset 

pen |7es shulen ben. 275 

For I shal don a iup^rti, 
And a ferli maistri, 

pat J70U shalt ful wel sen. 

Pepir nou shalt ]7ou eten, 

pis mustart shal ben J^i mete, 280 

And gar ym eien to rene ; 
I shal make a lesing 
Of |7in heie-renning, 

Ich wot wel wer and wenne/* 

'^ Wat ! nou const ]70u no god ? 285 

Me J^inke)? J^at |70u art wod : 

^euest |?o )?e welpe mustard ? " 
" Be stille, boinard ! 

270 W. Have, M. Hawe. — 276 W. & M. juperti, MS. 
aiuptrti. — 279 MS. Pepis. — 282 MS. alesing. — 287 W. tho, 
M. thou. 



14 SDame ^iti} 

I shal mit )?is ilke gin 

Gar hire loue to ben al )7in. 290 

Ne shal ich neuer haue reste ne ro 

Til ich haue told hou ]?ou shalt do. 

Abid me her til min hom-come." 
" ^us, bi ]?e somer blome, 

He};en nulli ben binomen, 295 

Til );ou be ajein comen " 

Dame siri)? bigon to go, 

As a wrecche J;at is wo, 

pat hoe come hire to )7en inne 

per J;is gode wif wes inne. 300 

po hoe to ]7e dore com, 

Swi);e reuliche hoe bigon : 
" Louerd," hoe sei)?, " wo is holde wiues, 

pat in pouerte lede]? ay Hues ; 

Not no mon so muchel of pine 305 

As poure wif ]?at falle); in ansine. 

pat mai ilke mon bi me wite 

For mai I nouj^er gange ne site. 

Ded woldi ben ful fain. 

Houng^r and }?urst me haue]? nei slain; 310 

Ich ne mai mine limes on-wold. 

For mikel hounger and ]?urst and cold. 

War-to liueth selke a wrecche ? 

Wi nul goed mi soule fecche ? " 

291 MS. nero. — 293 MS. horn come. — 294 W. & M. bi- 
nomen. — 310 W. & M. Hounger. — 311 W. & MS. on wold. 
— 313 W. & M. War-to. MS. awrecche. 



SDame^iri? 15 

"Seli wif, god }7e hounbinde ! 315 

To dai wille I }7e mete finde 

For loue of goed. 
Ich haue reu)7e of ]?i wo, 
For euele I-clo};ed I se )?e go, 

And euele I-shoed. 320 

Com her-in, ich wile }7e fede,'* 
" Goed almijtten do J?e mede, 

And |?e louerd |7at wes on rode I-don, 

And faste fourti daus to non, 

And heuene and er|7e hauej? to welde. 3^5 

As }?ilke louerd }7e forjelde. 

Haue her fles and eke bred, 

And make )?e glad, hit is mi red ; 

And haue her pe coppe wi)? ])e driwke ; 

Goed do |;e mede for yi swinke." 33° 

penne spac )?at holde wif, 

Crist awarie hire lif ! 
" Alas ! Alas ! ]7at euer I liue ! 

Al J7e sunne ich wolde forgiue 

pe mon )?at smite of min heued ! 335 

Ich wolde mi lif me were bireued ! " 

319 W. & M. i-clothed, MS. I. cloM- — 320 W. & M. 
i-shoed, MS. I shoed. — 321 W. & M. herin. — 323 W. & M. 
loverd, i-don. — 326 W. & M. for-^elde. — 329 W. & M. drinke. 
— 330 W. & M. Goed mede the for. — 331 W. & M. olde. — 
334 W. & M. for-give. — 335 W. & M. off. — 336 W. & M. 
bi-reved. 



1 6 SPameg^iri? 

'•' Seli wif, what eille); }?e ? " 
^'^Bote e)?e mai I sori be: 

Ich heuede a dout^r feir and fre, 

Feiror ne mi^tte no mon se, 34o 

Hoe heuede a curteis hossebonde ; 

Freour mon mi^tte no mon fonde. 

Mi dout^r louede him al to wel; 

For yi maki sori del. 

Oppon a dai he was out wend, 345 

And )?ar-];oru wes mi dout^r shend. 

He hede on ernde out of toune ; 

And com a modi clarc w'ip croune, 

To mi dout^r his loue beed, 

And hoe nolde nout folewe his red. 35© 

He ne mi^tte his wille haue, 

For no j^ing he mi^tte craue. 

penne bigon pe clerc to wiche, 

And shop mi dout^r til a biche. 

pis is mi dout^fr }?at ich of speke; 355 

For del of hire min herte breke. 

Loke hou hire heien greten, 

On hire cheken |?e teres meten. 

339 W. & M. douter. MS. adout<?r. — 340 W. & M. Feirer. 

— 342 MS. nomon. — 343 W. & M. douter. — 344 W. & M. 
For-thi mak I. — 345 MS. adai, W. & M. oute. — 346 W. & 
M. thar- forn, douter. — 348 MS. amodi. — 349 W. & M. douter. 

— 352 W. & M. nothing. — 353 W. & M. bi-gon. — 354 MS. 
abiche. 355 W. & M. douter. 



SPame^irt? 17 

For I?!, dame, were hit no wo«d^r, 

pau min herte burste assund^r. 360 

A[nd] wose euer is jong houssewif, 

Ha loue]? ful luitel hire lif, 

And eni clerc of loue hire bede, 

Bote hoe gr^nte and lete him spede." 
" A ! louerd crist, wat mai j^enne do ! 365 

pis enderdai com a clarc me to, 

And bed me loue on his manere, 

And ich him nolde nout I-here. 

Ich trouue he wolle me forsape. 

Hou troustu, nelde, ich moue ascape ? " 370 
'' God almijtten be J^in help 

pat )?ou ne be nouj^er bicche ne welp ! 

Leue dame, if eni clerc 

Bede|7 |?e );at loue-werc, 

Ich rede }?at |7ou gr^nte his bone, 375 

And bicom his lefmon sone. 

And if ]?at J?ou so ne dost, 

A worse red j^ou ounderfost." 

*' Louerd crist, )?at me is wo, 
pat J7e clarc me hede fro, 380 

Ar he me heuede biwonne. 

359 W. & M. For-thi, wonder. — 360 W. & M. thah. — 
361 MS. A, W. & M. hever. — 362 M. Hoe. — 363 W. & 
M. An. — 364 W. & M. graunte. — 365 M. inserts "^I* after mai. 
— 368 W. & M. i-here. — 369 W. & M. for-sape. — 370 W. & 
M. Nelde. — 375 W. & M. graunte. — 376 W. & M. bi-com. 



1 8 SPame^irtj 

Me were leuere ]>en ani fe 
That he heuede enes leien bi me, 
And efFt-sones bigunne. 

Euer-more, nelde, ich wille be )7in, 385 

Wi|; |7at ]?ou feche me willekin, 

pe clarc of wam I telle, 
Giftes willi geue ]7e 
pat ]?ou maijt euer ]?e betere be, 

Bi godes houne belle ! " 390 

*' So)?liche, mi swete dame, 
And if I mai wi)?-houte blame. 

Fain ich wille ffonde ; 
And if ich mai wi)? him mete, 
Bi eni wei o]?er bi strete, 395 

Nout ne willi wonde. 

Haue goddai, dame ! for]? willi go.'* 
" Allegate loke )?at J70U do so 

As ich ]?e bad ; 
Bote |7at |7ou me wilekin bringe, 400 

Ne mai neuer lawe ne singe, 

Ne be glad." 

384 MS. efft sones, W. & M. bi-gunne. — 385 W. & M. 
Evermore, Nelde. — 388 W. & M. give. — 392 W. & M. 
withhoute. — 393 W. & M. fonde. — 397 W. & M. god dai. 
— 401 M. inserts "^I"^ after mai. 



SPame^iri? 19 

" I wis, dame, if I mai, 
Ich wille bringen him jet to-dai, 

Bi mine mijtte." 405 

Hoe wente hire to hire inne, 
Her hoe founde wilekinne, 

Bi houre drijtte! 

'' Swete wilekin, be ]?ou nout dred, 
For of )?in her[n]de ich haue wel sped. 410 
Swi|7e com for j^ider wi)? me, 
For hoe hauej? send afFt^r ]?e. 
I-wis nou maijt )?ou ben aboue. 
For ]70u hauest gr^ntise of hire loue." 

" God )?e for-jelde, leue nelde, 415 

pat heuene and er}7e haue)? to welde ! " 

pis modi mon bigon to gon 
Wi)? Siriz to his leuemon 

In )?ilke stounde. 
Dame Siriz bigon to telle, 420 

And swor bi godes ouene belle, 

Hoe heuede him founde. 

" Dame, so haue ich wilekin sout, 

For nou haue ich him I-brout." 
"Welcome, wilekin, swete )?ing, 425 

pou art welcomore )?en )7e king. 

403 W. & M. I-wis. — 410 MS. herde. — 411 M. for^th^ 
thidcr. — 412 W. & M. affter. — 413 W. & M. I-wis. — 
414 W. & M. grauntise. — 415 MS. for ^elde. W. & M. Nelde. 
— 424 W. & M. i-brout. 



20 SDanw ^iri? 

Wllekin ]7e swete, 
Mi loue I )?e bihete, 

To don al )?ine wille. 
Turnd ich haue mi );out, 43^ 

For I ne wolde nout 

pat ]7ou ]7e shuldest spille." 

" Dame, so ich euere bide noen, 
And ich am redi and I-boen 

To don al ]?at ]7ou saie. 435 

Nelde, par ma fai ! 
pou most gange awai, 

Wile ich and hoe shulen plaie." 

" Goddot so I wille : 
And loke J^at ]70u hire tille, 44© 

And strek out hire )?es. 
God ^eue ]?e muchel kare, 
^eif )?at ]7ou hire spare, 

pe wile J?ou mid hire bes. 

And wose is onwis, 445 

And for non pr/s 

Ne con geten his leuemon, 
I shal, for mi mede, 
Garen him to spede, 

For ful wel I con." 45° 

428 W. & M. bi-hete. — 434 W. & M. i-boen. — 444 M. 
here. — 446 W. & M. pris. 



Dame ^irij 21 

Appendix to Dame Siriz 

Hie Incipt Interludimtw de cl^rico ei puclla« 

Clericus ait, 
^' Damishel, reste wel ! " Cierkus 

" Sir, welcu;;/, by saynt michel ! " Pud/a 

" Wer esty sire, wer esty dame ? " CWicus 

" By gode, es noyer her at hame." Puella 5 

*' Wel wor suilc a man to life cierkus 

Yat suilc a may mithe haue to wyfe." 
" Do way, by cr/st and leonard, Puella 

No wily lufe na clerc fayllard, 

Na kepi herbherg, clerc, in huse, no y flore 10 

Bot his hers ly wit uten dore. 

Go forth yi way, god sire, 

fFor her hastu losye al yi wile." 
" Nu, nu, by cr/st and by sant ihon; Cierkus 

In al yis land ne wis hi none, 15 

Mayden, yat hi luf mor yan ye, 

Hif me micht euer ye bether be. 

fFor ye hy sory nicht and day, 

Y may say, hay wayleuay ! " 

Y luf ye mar yan mi lif, *o 
Yu hates me mar yan yayt dos chnief. 

Yat es nouct for mys-gilt, 

Certhes, for yi luf ham hi spilt. 

A, suythe mayden, reu of me, 

Yat es ty luf hand ay salbe, 25 



22 2E>ame ^iri? 

fFor ye luf of y [e] mod [^r] of efne, 

Yu mend yi mode and her my steuene ! " 
" By cr/st of heu^we and sant ione, Puelk 

Clerc of scole ne kepi non, 

fFor many god wymman haf yai don scam — 30 

By cr/st, yu michtis haf ben at hame ! " 
" Synt it noyir gat may be, cierkus 

Ihesu cr/st by-te[c]hy ye, 

And send neulic bot yar in«e, 

Yat yi be lesit of al my pyne." 35 

" Go nu, tr«an, go nu, go, Pueib 

fFor mikel yu cawstu of sory and wo ! " 

" God te blis, mome helwis ! " cierkus 

" Son, welcuw, by san dinis ! " Mome-Elwis 

" Hie am comin to ye, mome, CUrkus 40 

Yu hel me noth, yu say me sone. 

Hie am a clerc yat hauwtes scole, 

Y lydy my lif wyt mikel dole. 

Me wor leu^r to be dedh, 

Yan led ye lif yat hyc ledh 45 

fFor ay mayden with and schen, 

fFayrer ho lond hawy non syen. 

Yo hat mayden malkyn, y wene. 

Nu yu wost quam y mene. 

Yo wonys at the tounes ende, 50 

Yat suyt lif so fayr and hende. 

Bot if yo wil hir mod amende, 



2[>ame ^iri? 23 

Neuly cr/st my ded me send ! 
Men send me hyder, vyt-vte« fayle, 
To haf yi help anty cuwsayle; 55 

Yar for amy cummen here, 
Yat yu salt be my herand-bere, 
To mac me and yat mayden sayct, 
And hi sal gef ye of my nayct, 
So yat heu^r al yy lyf 60 

Saltu be ye better wyf. 
So help me cr/st, and hy may spede, 
Riche saltu haf yi mede." 
"A, son, vat saystu? Benedicite! MomeEllwis 
Lift hup yi hand and blis ye i 65 

fFor it es boyt syn and scam, 
Yat yu on me hafs layt thys blam. 
fFor hie am anald quyne and a lam, 
Y led my lyf wit godis loue. 
Wit my roc y me fede, 70 

Cani do non oyir dede, 
Bot my pat^r nost^r and my crede, 
To say cr/st for missedede. 
And myn auy mary — 

fFor my scynnes hie am sory — 75 

And my deprofundis 
fFor al yat y sin lys ; 
fFor cani me non oyir yink — 
Yat wot cr/st, of heuene kync. 
Ih^su cr/st of he«^ne hey, 80 



24 2Dame ^iti-^ 

Gef yat hay may heng hey, 

And gef yat hy may se, 

Yat yay be heng' on a tre, 

Yat yis ley as leyit onne me. 

ffor aly wymam ami on." 85 



Clfte fox ann WoK in m Wtll 

Of ]>e vox and of ]?e wolf 

A vox gon out of ];e wode go, 
Afingret so, )?at him wes wo ; 
He nes neuere in none wise 
Afingret erour half so swipe. 
He ne hoeld nouj^er wey ne strete, ^ 

For him wes lo]? men to mete; 
Him were leuere meten one hen, 
pen half anoundred wimmen. 
He strok swi}?e ouer-al, 

So |?at he ofsei ane wal; lo 

Wi)?inne |?e walle wes on hous. 
The wox wes |;ider swif?e wous ; 
For he |?ohute his hounger aqw^nche, 
0)?er mid mete, oj;er mid drunche. 
Abouten he biheld wel ^erne ; i^ 

po eroust bigon )?e vox to erne. 
Al fort he come to one walle. 
And som }?er-of wes afalle, 

W. = Wright and HalHwell, Reliquiae Antiquae ; M. = 
Matzner, Altenglhche sprachproben. In W. and in H. throughout 
p appears as th and consonantal « as -z^. 

8 W. &M. Thanhalfanoundred. — 9 W. &M. all. — 13 W. 
& M. aquenche. — 18 W. & M. therof wes a-falle. 



26 tE^tie Sfov anD Molf in t^t OTrtl 

And wes ])e wal ouer-al to-broke, 

And on jat }7er wes I-loke ; 20 

At );e furmeste bruche ]7at he fond, 

He lep in, and ouer he wond. 

po he wes inne, smere he lou. 

And J?er-of he hadde gome I-nou ; 

For he com in wi|?-outen leue 25 

Bo};en of haiward and of reue. 



On hous )7er wes, ]>e dore wes ope, 
Hennen weren )?erinne I-crope, 

Fiue, J?at make}? anne flok. 

And mid hem sat on kok. 

pe kok him wes flowen on hey. 

And two hennen him seten ney. 
" Wox," quod ]?e kok, " wat dest }?ou J?are ? 

Go hom, crist J?e jeue kare ! 

Houre hennen ]>o\i dest ofte shome." ^^ 

" Be stille, ich bote, a godes nome ! " 

Qua}? }7e wox, " sire chauntecler, 

pou fle adoun, and com me ner. 

I nabbe don her nout bote goed, 

I have leten };ine hennen blod ; .q 

Hy weren seke ounder }?e ribe, 

pat hy ne mijtte non lengour libe. 



30 



19 MS. to breke. — 20 W. & M. i-loke. — 24 W. & M. 
i-nou. — 28 W. & M. i-cropc, MS. I crope. — 36 MS. agodes. 



tET^e ifoic anD Molf in t^ie Mell 27 

Bote here heddre were I-take; 
pat I do for almes sake. 

Ich haue hem letten eddre blod, 45 

And ]?e, chauntecler, hit wolde don goed. 
pou hauest ]?at ilke ounder )7e splen, 
pou nestes neuere daies ten ; 
For ]?ine lif-dayes hep al ago, 
Bote |70u bi mine rede do; 50 

I do J>e lete blod ounder ]?e brest, 
0}?er sone axe after |?e prest." 
*' Go wei,'' quod J?e kok, " wo )7e bi-go ! 
pou hauest don oure kunne wo. 
Go mid |?an J?at )70u hauest nou)?e ; 55 

Acoursed be )?ou of godes mou)?e ! 
For were I adoun bi godes nome ! 
Ich mijte ben siker of o)7re shome 
Ac weste hit houre cellerer, 
pat );ou were I-comen her, 60 

He wolde sone after );e jonge, 
Mid pikes and stones and staues stronge ; 
Alle )7ine bones he wolde to-breke; 
pene we weren wel awreke." 



H 



E wes stille, ne spak namore, 65 

Ac he werj? a)?urst wel sore; 



43 W. & M. i-take, MS. I take. — 49 W. & M. a-go. — 58 
W. & M. owre. — 59 M. wiste. — 60 W. & M. i-comen, MS. 
I comen. — 63 MS. to breke. 



28 tB\)t ^ox anti Molf in t^t Wtll 

pe ]?urst him dede more wo, 

pen heuede raj?er his hounger do. 

Ouer-al he ede and sohvte ; 

On auenture his wiit him brohute, 70 

To one putte wes water inne 

pat wes I-maked mid grete ginne. 

Tuo boketes ]?er he founde, 

pat oJ;er wende to |;e grounde, 

pat wen me shulde ];at on opwinde, 75 

pat o|?er wolde adoun winde. 

He ne hounderstod nout of j^e ginne, 

He nom ]?at boket, and lep );erinne ; 

For he hopede I-nou to drinke. 

pis boket biginne]? to sinke; 80 

To late j^e vox wes biJ?out, 

po he wes in J^e ginne I-brout. 

I-nou he gon him bi-J?enche, 

Ac hit ne halp mid none wrenche ; 

Adoun he moste, he wes ]?erinne ; 85 

I-kaut he wes mid swikele ginne. 

Hit mijte han iben wel his wille 

To lete ]?at boket hongi stille. 

Wat mid serewe and mid drede, 

72 W. & M. i-maked, MS. I maked. — 75 W. & M. op- 
winde, M. omits on. — 76 W. & M. a-doun. — 79 W. & M. 
i-nou, MS. Inou. — 80 W. & M. beginneth. — 81 W. & M. 
bi-]3out. — 82 W. & M. i-brout, MS. I brout. — 83 MS. bi 
Jjenche. — 85 W. & M. A-doun. — 86 W. & M. i-kaut.— 
87 W. & M. i-ben, MS. hani ben. 



tE^^e Sfox ana Wiolf in ttie ^ell 29 

Al his )?urst him ouer-hede. 9© 

Al )?us he com to ]?e grounde, 
And water I-nou ]7er he founde. 
po he fond water, jerne he dronk, 
Him ]?oute ];at water )7ere stonk, 
For hit wes to-jeines his wille. 95 

" Wo wor|7e," qua]? |?e vox, " lust and wille, 
pat ne can me}? to his mete ! 
^ef ich neuede to muchel I-ete, 
pis ilke shome neddi nou]?e; 
Nedde lust I-ben of mine mouj^e. 100 

Him is wo in euche londe, 
pat is )?ef mid his honde. 
Ich am I-kaut mid swikele ginne, 
0]?er soum deuel me broute her-inne. 
I was woned to ben wiis, 105 

Ac nou of me I-don hit hiis." 

PE vox wep, and reuliche bigan, 
per com a wolf gon after J^an 
Out of pe depe wode bliue. 
For he wes afingret swi)?e. no 

No]?ing he ne founde in al )?e ni^te, 
Wer-mide his honger aque^zche mijtte. 

90 W. & M. over-hede, MS. ouer hede. — 91 W. & M. come. 

— 92 W. & M. i-nou. — 95 MS. to ^eines. — 96 W. & M. 
quath. — 97 M. con. — 98 W. & M. i-ete, MS. I ete. — 100 
W. & M. i-ben, MS. I ben. — 103 W. & M. i-kaut, MS. I kaut. 

— 106 W. &M. i-don, MS. I don. — 112 W., MS. Wer mide, 
W. & M. aquenche, M. Wer-mid e. 



30 tlT^e ifoj: anU ^olf in t^t Witll 

He com to )?e putte, )?ene vox I-herde ; 

He him kneu wel bi his rerde, 

For hit wes his nei^ebore, 115 

And his gossip, of children bore. 

A-doun bi ]>e putte he sat. 

Quod J?e wolf, "Wat may ben J^at 

pat ich in )?e putte I-here ? 

Hertou cristine, o)7er mi fere ? 120 

Say me so]?, ne gabbe }70u me nout, 

Wo haue]? ]?e in J?e putte, I-brout ? " 

pe vox hine I-kneu wel for his kun, 

And J70 eroust kom wiit to him ; 

For he |?oute mid soumme ginne, 125 

Him-self houpbringe, |7ene wolf )?erinne. 

Quod )?e vox, " Wo is nou peref 

Ich wene hit is sigr/m );at ich here.'* 
"pat is so);," )?e wolf sede, 
" Ac wat art J?ou, so god ]>e rede ? " '3o 

^' yl ^^ quod );e vox, " ich wille )?e telle ; 
XjLa On alpi word ich lie nelle. 
Ich am reneuard, )?i frend. 
And jif ich );ine come heuede I-wend, 
Ich hedde so I-bede for )?e, ,^^ 

pat )?ou sholdest comen to me." 

113 W. & M. i-herde. — 114 W. & M. by. — ii8 M. What. 
— 119 W. & M. i-here. — 122 W. & M. i-brout. — 123 W. 
& M. i-lcneu, MS. I kneu. — 128 W. & M. Sigrim. — 134 W. 
& M. i-wend. — 135 W. & M. i-bade. 



^l)e ifoF anD Molf in tl^e Mell 31 

" Mid pe ? " quod )?e wolf, " War to ? 
Wat shulde ich ine pc putte do ? " 
Quod }?€ vox, " pou art ounwiis, 
Her is )?e blisse of paradiis ; 140 

Her ich mai euere wel fare, 
Wi}7-outen pine, wi}>outen kare ; 
Her is mete, her is drinke. 
Her is blisse wi|?outen swinke 5 
Her nis hounger neuermo, 145 

Ne non o|7er kunnes wo ; 
Of alle gode her is I-nou." 
Mid l^ilke wordes ]>e volf lou. 

'• A rt )7ou ded, so god )7e rede, 

jLjL 0)?er of )?e worlde?" }?e wolf sede. 1^0 

Quod ]>Q wolf, " Wenne storue }?ou, 

And wat dest ]?ou )?ere nou ? 

Ne be}? nout jet )?re daies ago, 

pat J?ou and ]?i wif also. 

And |?ine children, smale and grete, ,^^ 

Alle to-gedere mid me hete." 
" pat is so]?," quod J?e vox, 
" Gode ]?onk, nou hit is )?us, 

pat ihc am to criste vend. 

Not hit non of mine frend. 160 

I nolde, for al |?e worldes goed, 

Ben ine ]?e worlde, J?er ich hem fond. 

137 W. & M. war-to. — 147 W. & M. i-nou. — 153 W. & 
M. a-go. 



32 turtle i?o)c and Molf in t^t WSitll 

Wat shuldich ine J?e worlde go, 

per nis bote kare and wo, 

And liuie in ful)?e and in sunne ? 165 

Ac her be]? ioies fele cunne ; 

Her be)? bo)7e shep and get." 

pe wolf haue}? hounger swi)?e gret. 

For he nedde jare I-ete ; 

And ]?o he herde speken of mete, 170 

He wolde ble]?eliche ben ]?are. 
" A ! " quod ]}e wolf, " gode I-fere, 

Moni goed mel )?ou hauest me binome ; 

Let me adoun to pe kome. 

And al ich wole ]7e for-^eue." 175 

" ^e," quod )?e vox, " were ]?ou I-sriue, 

And sunnen heuedest al forsake. 

And to klene lif I-take, 

Ich wolde so bidde for )?e, 

pat ]?ou sholdest comen to me." 180 

•• ^ I ^O wom shuldich," )?e wolfe seide, 
X Ben I-knowe of mine misdede ? 
Her nis noJ?ing aliue, 
pat me kou]?e her nou sriue. 

156 MS. to gedere. — i66 W. & M. joies. — 169 W. & M. 
i-ete, MS. I ete. — 171 W. & M. i-fere, MS. I fere. — 174 W. 
& M. a-doun. — 175 MS. for ^eue. — 176 W. & M. i-srive, 
MS. I sriue. — 178 W. & M. i take, MS. I take. — 182 W. & 
M. i-knowe, MS. I knowc. 



\ 



4( 



^l)e ifojc ano Molf in tl^e Mell 33 

pou hauest ben ofte min I-fere, 185 

Woltou nou mi srift I-here, 

And al mi liif I shal ];e telle ? " 

Nay," quod }?e vox, " I nelle." 
" Neltou," quod ]7e wolf, " yin ore, 

Ich am afingret swi];e sore ; 190 

Ich wot to nijt ich worj^e ded. 

Bote );ou do me somne reed. 

For cristes loue be mi prest." 

pe wolf bey adoun his brest, 

And gon to siken harde and stronge. 195 

" Woltou," quod )7e vox, " srift ounderfowge, 

Tel l^ine sunnen on and on, 

pat |;er bileue neuer on." 

"Oone," quod pe wolf, " wel I-faie, 

O Ich habbe ben qued al mi lifdaie ; 200 
Ich habbe widewene kors, 
perfore ich fare )?e wors. 
A |;ousent shep ich habbe abiten. 
And mo, ^ef hy weren I-writen. 
Ac hit me of-]?inke)? sore. 205 

Maister, shal I tellen more ? " 

185 W. & M. i-fere, MS. I fere. — i86 W. & M. i-here, 
WS. I here. — 191 W. & M. to-ni^t. — 194 W. & H. a-doun. 
— 196 W. & M. ounderfonge. — 199 W. &M. quad, MS. I fare, 
W. & M. i-faie. — 200 W. & M. lif-daie. -- 204 W. & M. 
i-writen, MS. I writen. — 205 MS. of JjinkeJ?. 



34 ^^t iFop anU WLolf in tl^e WitH 



u 



u 



^e," quod ]?e vox, '' al )70u most sugge, 

Oj;er elles-wer |?ou most abugge." 

Gossip," quod J^e wolf, " forjef hit me, 

Ich habbe ofte sehid qued bi ]?e, aio 

Men seide J?at |70u on ]7ine Hue 

Misferdest mid mine wiue ; 

Ich |7e ap^rseiuede one stounde. 

And in bedde togedere ou founde. 

Ich wes ofte ou ful ney, ai5 

And in bedde to-gedere ou sey. 

Ich wende, al-so oJ?re do]?, 

pat ich I-seie were so|>. 

And l^erfore ]7ou were me lo)? ; 

Gode gossip, ne be J70u nohut wroj?." 220 

••T Tuolf," q«^d |>e vox him }7o, 

V " Al ]?at )70u hauest her bifore I-do, 
In J?ohut, in speche, and in dede. 
In euche o]?eres kunnes quede, 
Ich );e for^eue at ]?isse nede." 225 

" Crist ]?e forjelde ! " J;e wolf seide. 
'* Nou ich am in clene Hue, 
Ne recche ich of childe ne of wiue. 
Ac sei me wat I shal do. 
And ou ich may comen J?e to." 230 

207 W. & M. quad. — 208 MS. elles wer. — 213 W. & M. 
aperseivede. — 214 W. & M. to-gedere. — 216 MS. to gedere ou 
ley, M. sey. — 218 W. & M. i-seie, MS. I seie. — 221 W. & 
M. quad. — 222 W. & M. i-do, MS. I do. 



^^t ifojc ano Molf in t^e Mell 35 

" Do ? " quod )?e vox. " Ich wille )?e lere. 

I-siist ];ou a boket hongi J^ere ? 

pere is a bruche of heuene blisse, 

Lep )?erinne, mid I-wisse, 

And ]?ou shalt comen to me sone." ^35 

Quod the wolf, "j;at is lijt to done." 

He lep in, and way sumdel ; 

pat weste }?e vox ful wel. 

pe wolf gon sinke, pe vox arise ; 

po gon J7e wolf sore agr/se. 240 

po he com amidde J7e putte, 

pe wolfe ]?ene vox opward mette. 
" Gossip," quod )?e wolf, " Wat nou ? 

Wat hauest )?ou I-munt ? weder wolt ]?ou ? " 
" Weder, Ich wille ? " )?e vox sede. 245 

" Ich wille oup, so god me rede ! 

And nou go doun, wij? yi meel, 

pi bijete wor}? wel smal. 

Ac ich am J;erof glad and blij^e, 

pat )?ou art nomen in clene Hue. 250 

pi soule-cnul ich wille do ringe, 

And masse for |7ine soule singe." 

pe wrecche bine]7e no];ing ne vind, 

Bote cold water, and hounger him bind ; 

To colde gistninge he wes I-bede, 255 

Wroggen hauej? his dou I-knede. 

232 MS. I siist. — 234 W. & M. i-wisse, MS. I wisse. — 
240 W. & M. agrise. — 244 W. & M. i-munt, MS. I munt. 

— 25 1 W. & M. soul-cnul. — 255 W. & M. i-bede, MS. I bede. 

— 256 W. & M. i-knede, MS. I knede. 



36 Wl^t Sfov ans Molf in t^t Witll 

Pe wolf in );e putte stod, 
Afingret so |?at he ves wod. 
Inou he cursede ]>zt ];ider him broute ; 
pe vox )?er of luitel route. 260 

pe put him wes |7e house ney, 
per freren woneden swij;e sley. 
po )?at hit com to J?e time, 
pat hoe shulden arisen Ine, 
For to suggen here houssong, 265 

O frere J?ere wes among, 
Of here slep hem shulde awecche, 
Wen hoe shulden )?idere recche. 
He seide, " Arise]? on and on, 
And kome]? to houssong heuereuchon." 270 

pis ilke frere heyte ailmer ; 
He wes hoere maister curtiler. 
He wes hof[?urst swi)?e stronge ; 
Rijt amidward here houssonge 
Al-hone to ]>e putte he hede ; 275 

For he wende bete his nede. 
He com to )?e putte, and drou, 
And ]?e wolf wes heui I-nou. 
pe frere mid al his maine tey 
So longe J?at he ]?ene wolf I-sey ! 280 

For he sei |?ene wolf J^er sitte. 
He gradde, " pe deuel is in |?e putte ! " 

259 MS. I nou. — 264 W. & M. ime. — 270 M. hevere uchon. 
— 275 W. & M. Alhone, MS. Al hone. — 278 W. & M. i-nou, 
MS. I nou.— 280 W. & M. i-sey, MS. I sey. 



^Ije i?OF ana Molf in t^t Wtll 37 

To )?e putte hy gounnen gon, 
Alle mid pikes and staues and ston, 
Euch mon mid J;at he hedde ; 285 

Wo wes him J^at wepne nedde. 
Hy comen to ]?e putte J?ene wolf opdrowe ; 
po hede ]>e wreche fomen I-nowe, 
pat weren egre him to slete 

Mid grete houndes, and to bete. 29° 

Wei and wro}?e he wes I-swonge, 
Mid staues and speres he wes I-stou«ge. 
pe wox bicharde him, mid Iwisse, 
For he ne fond nones kunnes blisse, 
Ne hof duntes forjeuenesse. explicit, 295 

287 W. & M. op-drowe. — 288 W. & M. i-nowe, MS. I nowe. 
— 291 W. & M. i-swonge, MS. I swonge. — 292 W. & M. 
i-stounge, MS. I sto«nge. — 293 W. & M. i-wisse, MS, I wisse. 



^ir Clegeis 



Off 



ysty.ns, lordyng^j, and je schall here Ashmoie 
fF ansytowrres, \at be-fore vs were, ' *' 



Bothe herdy and wyght, 
Yn tyme of \Ur and pewdragonn, 
Kyng artowr fad^r of grete renou«e, 5 

A sembly man of syght. 
He had a knyjht, hyjt s/r clegys ; 
A dou^tyer man was now at nedys 

Of J>e ronde-tabull ryjht. 
He was man of hy statour 10 

And per-to feyre of all fetowr, 

A man of mekyll myjht. 

Mour curtas kny^ht )?aw he was one 
Yn all |?/s werld was 'per non. 

He was so gentyll and fre, 15 

To squyres ]>at tr^ueyled in lond of werre 
And wer fallyn in pou<?rte bare, 

He gaff pern gold and fe. 
Hys tenant^! feyr he wold rehete; 
No man he wold buske ne bete ; 20 

Meke as meyd was he. 
Hys mete was redy to eu^ry man 
That wold com and vyset hym than ; 

He was full of plente. 



The knyght had a gentyll wyfEf, 25 

A better my^ht now be of lyfe, 

Ne non semblyer in syght. 
Dame clarys hyght ^at lady ; 
OfF all godnes sche had treuly 

Glad chere bo|;e dey and nyjht. 30 

Grete almwj-folke bo}7e ]>e'i were 
Both to pore man and to frere ; 

They cheryd many a wy^ht. 
fFor ]}Qm had no man oujht lore 
Whe}7^r ^ei wer ryche or pore, 35 

Of hym ]}ei schuld haue ryjht. 

Euery jere sir clegys wold 
In crystyn-mes a fest hold 

Yn |7e worschype of yat dey, 
[As Ryall in all thynge 40 

As he hade ben A kynge, 

For-soth as I you saye.] 
Ryche and pore in ]>at contre 
At ]>at fest ]}ei schuld be ; 

Ther wold no man sey nay. 4^ 

MynstreWus wold not be be-hynd, 
Myrthys wer ]>ei may fFynd, 

That is most to ]>er pay. 

Mynstrellwj when pe fest was don, 
Schuld not witZ?-outyn gyft^^ gon 
That wer both rych and gode, 

Verses 40-42 are supplied from the Edinburgh MS. 



40 ^iv Clegeg 

Hors and robys and rych thyng^j, 
Gold and sylu^r and d^er thyng^j, 

To mend with ^er mode 
X ^ere our xii sych kstes ]}ei held 55 

Yn worschype of hym^ ])at all weld 

And for vs dy^ed vpon )?e rode. 
Be than his gode be-gan to schake, 
Sych fest^j he gan make, 

The knyght of jentyll blode. 60 

To hold hys feste he wold not lete; 
Hys rych manors to wede he sete ; 

He thoujt hyw-selue oute to quyte. 
Thus he festyd many a ^ere 
Both gentyll men and comener 65 

Yn }?e name of god all-myjht. 
So at J?e last, soth to sey. 
All hys gode was spendyd a-way ; 

Than he had bot a lyte. 
Thoff hys god were ne-hond leste, 70 

Yn )?e wyrschyp he made a feste ; 

He hopyd god wold hym quyte. 

Hys ryalty he ford^ryd ay, 
To hys manors wer sold a-wey, 

That hym was left bot one; 75 

And ]>at was of lytell valew, 
That he and hys wyfe so trew 

Oneth myjht lyfe }?^r-one. 



Hys men, ]>at wer so mych of pr/de, 

Wente a-wey onne euery syde ; 80 

With hym 'per left not one. 
To duell with hym per left no mo 
Bot hys wyfe and his chyld^r two ; 

Than made he mekyll mone, 

Yt fell on a crystewmes eue; 85 

Syr clegys and his wyfe, 

They duellyd by cardyfF syde. 
When it drew to-werd pt none, 
Syr clegys fell in swownywg sone ; 

Wo be-thought hym pat tyde, 9^ 

What myrth he was wonte to hold, 
And he, he had hys manors solde, 

Tenandrys and land^j wyde. 
Mekyll sorow made he per; 
He wrong hys hondes and wepyd sore, 95 

fFor fallyd was hys pr/de. 
« 
And as he walkyd vppe and done. 
Sore sy^eng, he herd a sowne 

Off dyu^rse mywstralsy. 
Off tru;wpers, pypers, and nakerners, 100 

Off herp^rs, notys and gytherners. 

Off sytall and of sautrey. 
Many carrals and grete dansyng 
Yn eu^ry syde herd he syng. 

In eu^ry place, treuly. 105 



42 ^iv€ltQtS 

He wrong hys hond^j and wepyd sore ; 
Mekyll mon he made ])er^ 
Sy^eng full pytewysly. 

" A Ih^ju, heue«-kyng, 
Off nought ]?^u madyst all thyng; no 

Y thanke ])e of thy sonde. 

The myrth ])at I was won to make 
Yn ]>is tyme for ]?/ sake. 

Y fede both fre and bond, 

And all ]>at eu^r com in ]>i name, 115 

They wantyd no]>er wylde ne tame, 

That was in any lond. 
Off rych metys and drynk^j gode 
That long^j for any imnus fode. 

Off cost I wold not wonde." 120 

Als he stode in mo^rnywg so, 
And hys wyfe com hym to, 

Yn armys sche hy;^ hente. 
Sche kyssed hym with glad chere. 
And seyd: "My trew wedyd fere, 125 

Y herd wele what je ment. 
^e se wele, s/r, it helpys nought. 
To take sorow in ^our thought; 

Ther-for I rede je stynte. 
[Let your^ sorowe A-waye gon 130 

And thanke God of hys lone 

Of all ])at he hath sent.] 



§)ir Cleges 43 

Be cryst^i^ sake, I rede je lyne 
Of all ]>e sorow ])at je be Ine 

A-jene pis holy dey. 135 

Now eu^ry man schuld be mery and glad 
With sych god^j as ]>ei had; 

Be je so, I jou pray. 
Go we to ouer mete be-lyue 
And make vs both m^rry and blythe, Ho 

Als wele as euer we may. 
I hold it for pe best, trewly ; 
Y haue made owre mete treuly, 

Y hope, vnto jour pay." 

" Now I assent," quop cleg^j the. H5 

Yn with hyr he gan go 

Som-what with better chere. 
When he fell in thoujt and care, 
Sche comforth hym euer mo«r, 

Hys sorow for-to stere. 150 

Aft^r he gan to wex blyth 
And wyped hys terys blyue, 

That hang on hys lyre. 
Than pel wesch and went to mete, 
With sych god as pel myjht gete, '55 

And made m^ry chere. 



Verses 130-132 are supplied from the Edinburgh MS. 
1^5 MS. the, 



44 &it Cleges 

When yei had ete, ]>e soth to sey, 

With myrth ]?^i drofe ]?e dey a-wey, 

The best wey ])at they myjht. 

With "per chyld^r pley pe'i dyde i6o 

And aft^r euewsong went to bede 

At serteyn of )?e nyght. 
The sclepyd, to it rong at |>e chyrche, 
God^j s^ruys forto wyrche, 

As it was skyll and ryght. 165 

Vp ]}e'i ros and went |?e}?^r, 
They and \er chyld^r toge)7<?r, 

When 'pel were redy dyjht. 

Syr cleg^j knelyd on hys kne, 

To Ih[es]u cryst pr^yd he 170 

Be chesyn of hys wyfe : 
" Grasyos lord," he seyd tho, 
" My wyfe and my chyld^r two, 

Kepe vs out of stryffe." 
The lady pr<jyd \\ym ageyn ; 
Sche seyd : " god kepe my lord fro peyn 

Yn-to eu^r-lastyng lyfFe." 175 

Seruys was don and hom pey wente ; 
The thankyd god omnipotent 

They went home so ryfe. 

When he to hys palys com, 180 

He thoujt his sorow was ou^r-gon ; 



^it Clcge0 45 

Hys sorow he gan stynt. 
He made hys wyfe be-for hym gon 
And hy [s] chyld^r eu^rychon ; 

Hy;^z-selue a-lone he wente 
Yn-to a garthyn per be-syde. 185 

He knelyd a-don in pat tyde 

And prayd to god v^rament. 
He thankyd god with all hys hert 
Of all desesyd in pou^rte 

That euer to hym he sente. 190 

As he knelyd onne hys kne 
Vnd^r-neth a chery tre, 

Makying hys pr^ere, 
He rawjht a bow^e in hys hond, 195 

To ryse per-hy and vp-stond ; 

No leng^r knelyd he per. 
When )?e bowjhe was in hys hond, 
Gren leuys per-on he fond 

And ronde beryes in fere. 200 

He seyd : *' Dere god in tr/nyte, 
What man^r beryes may ph be, 

That grow J?/s tyme of jere ? " 

" Y haue not se ph tyme of jere, 
That treys any fruyt schuld here, ^©5 

Als ferre as I haue sought." 
He thoujt to tayst it, yfF he couthe ; 



46 S)ir Clrgee 

One of ])Qm he put in hys mouthe ; 

Spare wold he nought. 210 

After a chery it relesyd clene, 
The best "pat Guer he had sene, 

Seth he was man wrought. 
A lytell bow he gan of-slyfe ; 
And thought he wold schew it hys wyfe ; 215 

Yn hys hond he it broujht. 

" Lo, dame, here is a nowylte ; 
In ouer garthyn vpon a tre 

Y found it, sykerly. 220 

Y ame a-ferd, it is tokenywg 
Be-cause of ou^r grete plenywg, 
'That mo«r greuans is ny." 
His wyfe seyd : " It is tokenywg 
Off mo«r godnes ]}at is comywg ; 225 

We shall haue mour plente. 
Haue we les our haue we mo«r, 
All-wey thanke we god ]?^r-fore ; 
Yt is J^e best treulye." 

The lady seyd with gode cher: 230 

" Late vs fyll a panyer 

Off ])e frute ])at god hath sente. 
To-morow, when )?e dey do spryng, 
^e schall to cardyfF to J?e kyng, 

ffull feyre hym to pr^jente. 



&it Clesc0 47 

Sych a gyft je may hafe )7^r, 235 

That a [11] we schall ye heter fare ; 

I tell 30U, veramewt." 
Sir clegys gr^ntyd sone "per-to : 
" To-morow to cardyff I wyll go 

After pur entent." 240 

The morne, when it was dey-lyght, 
The lady had );e pawnyer dyght ; 
To hyr eldyst son seyd sche : 
*' Take vp |?/s pawnyer gladly 
And here it at thy bake esyly HS 

After yi fad^r so fre." 
Syr clegys }7a« a stafF he toke ; 
He had no hors, so seyth ]?e boke, 

To ryde hys jorneye, 
NeJ^^r sted ne palferey, 250 

Bot a StafF was his hakney, 
As rmner in pou^rte. 

Syr cleges and hys son gent 
The ryght wey to cardyfe went 

On crystewmes dey. 255 

To }7e castell-^ate ])ei com full ryjht, 
As pel wer to mete dyght, 

At none, J^e soth to sey. 
As sir cleges wold in go, 
Yn pore clothyng was he tho, 260 

In a symple aray. 



48 ^ix €\t%tS 

The porter seyd full spytously : 
" Thow schall w/t/?-draw )?e smertly, 

Y rede, with-outc deley. 

Els, be god and seynt mary, 265 

Y schall breke J^i hede smertly, 

To stond in begers route. 
YfF ])o\i draw any mour in-werd, 
Thow schall rew it aft^rwerd; 

Y schall )?e so cloute." 270 
'' Gode s/r," seyd sir cleges tho, 

" Y pr^y 30U, late me in go ; 
Thys is wkh'Outen doute. 
The kyng I haue a present browjt 
fFro hyw, ]>at made all thinge of noujt ; 275 
Be-hold and loke a-boute ! " 

The powrter to |?e pawnyer wente; 
Sone ]?e lyde vp he hente ; 

The cherys he gan be-hold. 
Wele he wyst, for his co;wmy«g, 280 

fFor hys present to J^e kyng, 

Grete gyft^j haue he schuld. 
He seyd : " Be hym 'pat me dere bought, 
Yn at J7is jate co;wmys pou nought. 

Be hym pat made pis mold, 285 

The thyrd p^rte bot pou gr<^unte me 
Off pat the kyng wyll gyff )7e, 

Whcper it be sylu^r our gold." 



^iv Cleges 49 

Syr cleges seyd : " ])er-to I sente." 

He ^aue hym leue, and in he wente 19° 

W/t^-outen mour lettyng. 
Yn he went a grete pas ; 
The offycers at ]?e dore was 

With a staff standyng. 
Yn com sir cleges so wyght; 295 

He seyd : " Go, chorle, out of my syght, 

W/tZ?-out any mour lettyng. 
Y schall )7e bete eu^ry lythe, 
Hede and body, with-outyn grythe, 

And ])o\i make mo«r pr^syng." 300 

'' Gode s/'r," seyd sir cleges than, 
" For hys loue, ]}at made man, 
Sese ^our angry mode ! 
fFor I haue a pr^sante brou^t 
fFro hy;;z lj>at made all thyng of nowjht 3^5 

And dyed vpon )7e rode. 
Thys nyght |7/s fruyt grew ; 
Be-hold, whe^er I be fals our trew; 

They be gentyll and gode." 
The vsscher lyfte vp |?e lyde smertly ; 310 
The feyrest cherys ]}at euer he sey ; 
He m^ruyllyd in his mode." 

The vsscher seyd : " Be mary suete. 
Thou comyst not in }?/s halle on fete, 

Y tell J;e, sykerly, 315 



50 ^it Cleges 

Bot ]>ou grauwte me, wkh-out wernyng, 
The thyrd parte of J;i wyneng, 

When ]}o\i comyst a-geyn to me." 
Syr cleges sey non o|?er wone, 
Bot yer he gr^^ntyd hym a-non ; 320 

Yt wold non o)?er-weys be. 
Than sir cleges with heuy chere 
Toke his son and his pawnyer; 

In-to )?e hall went he. 

The stewerd stert fast in J?e hall, 325 

Among ]7e lord^j in ]?e halle. 

That weryd ryche wede. 
He went to sir cleges boldly 
And seyd : " Who made J>e so herdy. 

To come he);^r, our ]>ou were bede ? 330 
Cherle," he seyd, " ]}ou arte to bolde. 
W/t/?-draw ]>e with J7e clothes olde, 

Smertly, I );e rede." 
He seyd : " S/r, I haue a pr^sant broujt 
ffro ]}at lord lj?at vs dere bought 335 

And on ]?e rode gan bled." 

The stewerd stert forth wele sone 
And plukyd vp J^e lyde a-non, 

Als smertly as he mou^ht. 
The stewerd seyd : " Be mary dere, 340 

Thys saw I neu^r J^/s tyme of jere, 

Seth I was man I-wroujht. 



Thow schall cum no nere ]>e kyng, 
Bot if lj>ou gr^nte me myn askyng, 

Be hym ]>at me dere boujht. 345 

The thyrd partG of )?e kyng^j gyfte 
Y wyll haue, be my thryfte, 

Or els go truse j^e oute ! " 

Syr cleges stode and be-thoujt hym ]?a« : 
" And I schuld parte be-twyx thre men, 350 

My-selue schuld haue no-thyng. 
ffor my tr<^ueyll schall I not gete, 
Bot if it be a melys mete." 

Thus thought hym sore syjeng. 
He seyd: " Herlot, has ]}ou no tong? 355 

Speke to me and tary not long 

And gr^nte me myn askyng, 
Or with a staff I schall ]>g twake 
And bete )?i ragg^^ to )?i bake 

And schofe J^e out hedlyng ! " 360 

Syr cleges saw now o]}er bote, 
Hys askyng gr^nte hym he mote, 

And seyd with sy^hyng sore : 
*' What ]}at euer |7e kyng rewerd, 
^e schall haue ^e thyrd p^^rte, 3^5 

Whelj}er it be lesse our more." 
When sir cleges had seyd 'pat word. 
The stewerd and he wer a-corde 

And seyd to hym no more. 



52 ^tr Clegetf 

Vp to ]?e kyng sone he went ; ^jq 

fFull feyn he pr^ferd hys pr^sente, 
Knelyng onne hys kne hym be-fore. 

Syr cleges vn-cou^ryd ]?e pawnyer 
And schewyd }7e kyng j^e cherys clere, 

Vpon ]?e ground knelyng. 375 

He seyd : " Ih^ju, ouer sauyoure, 
Sente pu j^is fruyt with grete honour 

Thys dey on«e erth growyng." 
The kyng saw ]>e cherys fressch and new, 
And seyd : " I thanke ]?e, swete IhesUy 380 

Here is a feyre newyng." 
He comandyd sir cleges to mete, 
A word aft^r with hym to speke, 

W/t^[out] any feylyng 

The kyng ]?^r-for made a pr^sente 385 

And send vn-to a lady gente, 

Was born in corne-weyle. 
Sche was a lady bryght and schen ; 
Aft^r sche was hys awne quen, 

With-outen any feyle. 390 

The cherys wer s^rued throujhe ]>e hall. 
Than seyd );e kyng, a lord ryall : 

" Be m^ry, be my conseyle ! 
And he ]?at brou^t me ]>is present, 
Y schall make hym so content, 395 

It schall hym wele a-vayle." 



46 



When all men wer merye and glad, 
Anon )?e kyng a squyre bade : 

" Bryng hym me be-forne, 
The pore man ]fat }?e cherys broujt." 400 

Anon he went and taryd noujht, 

W/t^-outen any scorne. 
He brought cleges be-for |7e kyng ; 
Anon he fell in knelyng, 
He wend hys gyft had be lorn. 4^5 

He spake to )7e kyng with word^i felle. 
He seyd : " Lege lord, what is jowr wylle ? 

Y ame jo«r man fre-borne." 

Ithanke )7e hertely," seyd J?e kyng, 
" Off )?i grete pr^sentyng. 410 

That ]7(?u hast to me do. 
Thow hast honowryd all my feste 
W/'t^ y\ deynt^j, moste and leste. 

And worschyped me all-so. 
What ]?^t txxer thou wyll haue, 15 

Y wyll )?e gr^nte, so god me saue, 

That )?in hert stond^j to, 
Whe]7^r it be lond our lede, 
Or d\fer gode, so god me spede, 

How-]7^t- tuer it go." 4*0 

He seyd : " Garem<?rsy, lege kyng ! 
Thys is to me a hye thing, 
ffor sych one as I be. 



54 S>tr Cleges 

fForto grante me lond our lede 

Or any gode, so god me spede, 425 

Thys is to myche for me. 
Bot seth ]>at I schall ches my-selue, 
I aske no-thyng bot strok^^ xii 

fFrely now gr^^nte ^e me, 
With my staff to pay ])em all, 43^ 

Myn adu^rjarys in J?/s hall, 

ffor seynt charyte." 

Than ansuerd vt^r, ]>e kyng ; 
He seyd : " I repent my grantyng^ 
The couenand ]}at I made." 435 

He seyd : " Be hym J;at made me and the, 
Thou had be better take gold our fe ; 

NLour nede ]>er-to ])ou hade." 
Syr cleges seyd wkh-outen warryng: 
" Lord, it is jowr awne gr^nte[yng] ; 440 

Yt may not be deleyd." 
The kyng was angary and greuyd sore ; 
Neu^r-)?e-les he grante hym thore, 
The dynt^^ schuld be payd. 

Syr cleges went in-to J^e hall 445 

Among }7e grete lordly all, 

Wkh-outen any mour. 
He sought aft^r ]>e stewerd; 
He thou^t, to pay hym his rewerd, 

fFor he had greuyd hym sore. 45° 



^iv Cleges 55 

He gafe ]>e stewerd sych a stroke, 
That he fell doune lyke a bloke 

Among all ]}at ther were. 
And aft^r he gafF hym strok^j thre, — 
He seyd : "S/r, for )?i cwrtasse, 455 

Stryke pou. me no mour ! " 

Out of }?e hall sir cleges wente ; 
To pay mo strok^j he had mente, 

W kh-owtyn any lette. 
To |7e vsscher he gan go ; 460 

Sore strok^j ^afFe he tho, 

When J?^i to-ged^r mette, 
That aft^r-werd many a dey 
He wold wern no man ]7e wey ; 

So grymly he hym grete. 465 

Syr [cleges] seyd : " Be my thryfte, 
Thou hast the thyrd p^^rte of my gyfte, 

Ryght euyn as I ]7e hy^ht." 

To ]7e porter com he jare ; 

fFoure strok^j payd he thare ; 470 

His parte had he tho. 
Aftyr-werd many a dey 
He wold wern no man J^e wey, 

Ne)7^r to ryde ne go. 
The fyrst stroke he leyd hym owne, 475 

He brake a-two hys schuld^r bone 

And hys ryjht arme also. 



56 ^ir Cleges? 

Syr cleges seyd : " Be my thryfte, 
Thow hast ]?e thyrd parte of my gyfte ; 

Couenant made we so." 480 



The kyng was sett in hys p^rlere, 
Myrth and reuell forto here ; 

Syr cleges thed^r wente. 
An harper had a geyst I-seyd, 
That made ]?e kyng full wele apayd, 485 

As to hys entente. 
Than seyd 'pe kyng to pis herper; 
Mykyll pou may ofte-tyme here, 

fFor thou hast ferre wente. 
Tell me trew, if ]}ou can ; 49^ 

Knowyst ])ou thys pore man 

That ]>is dey me pr^sente ? " 



(( 



He seyd : " My lege, with-outen les, 
Som-tyme men callyd hym cleges ; 

He was a knyght of pure. 495 

Y may thinke, when ]}at he was 
fFull of fortone and of gr^ce, 

A man of hye stature." 
The kyng seyd : " p/s is not he i«-dede ; 
Yt is long gon pat he was dede 500 

That I louyd p^ramowr. 
Wold god pat he wer wyth me ; 

Y had hym leu^r than knyght^j thre, 
That knyght was styfF in stoure." 



(4 



^it Cleges 57 

Syr cleges knelyd be-for )?e kyng ; 5^5 

fFor he had gr^ntyd hy;7z hys askyng, 

He thankyd hy;w cwrtasly. 
Spesyally J7e kyng hym pr^yd, 
The thre men, ]>at he strok^j payd, 
Where-for it was and why. 5 ^^ 

He seyd : " I myght not com in-werd, 
To I gr^ntyd Iche of pern J?e thyrd p^rte 

OS]?at ^e wold gyfF me. 
Be ])at I schuld haue nojht my-selue ; 
To dele among theym strokys xii 5^5 

Me thoujt it best, trewly." 

The lord^j lew^e, both old and ^enge, 
And all ]?at ther wer wyth J;e kyng, 

They made solas I-now^e. 
They lew^e, so J?^i myjt not sytte; 5^° 

They seyd : " It was a nobull wytte, 

Be cryst we make a vow." 
The kyng send aft^r hys stewerd 
And seyd : '^Jnd he gr.^'nte ]7e any rewerd, 

Askyth it be ]?e law." 5^5 

The stewerd seyd and lukyd grym ; 
Y thynke neu^r to haue a-do with hym ; 

Y wold I had neu^r hym knaw." 

The kyng seyd : " Wkh-outcn blame. 
Tell me, gode man, what is J^i name, 530 

Befor me anon-ryght ! " 



(4 



(C 



58 ^it Cleges 

" My lege," he seyd, "p/s man ^ou tellys, 
Som-tyme men callyd me sir cleges ; 

Y was ^our awne knyght." 
Arte]?<?u my knyght, ]>at s<?ruyd me, 53s 

That was so gentyll and so fre. 

Both strong, herdy and wyght ? " 
^e, lord," he seyd, "so mote I the, 
Tyll god all-myjht hath vyset me; 

Thus pou^rte hath me dyjht." 54° 

The kyng gaffe hym ano«-ryjht 
All "pat long^j to a knyght, 

To a-ray hys body with. 
The castell of cardyff also 
With all ]?e pourtemns \er-to^ 545 

To hold with pes and grythe. 
Than he made hym hys stuerd 
Of all hys londys aft^r-werd. 

Off wat^r, lond, and frythe, 
A cowpe of gold he gafe hym blythe, 55° 

To here to dam clarys, hyj wyfe, 

Tokenywg of loy and myrthe. 

The kyng made hys son squyre 
And gafe hym a coler forte were 

With a huwdryth pownd of rente. 555 

When ]>ei com home in ]7is maner, 
Dame clarys, pat lady clere, 

Sche thankyd god veramewt. 



^it Clege0 59 

Sche thanked god of all man^r, 

For sche had both knyght and squyre 560 

Som-what to per entente. 
Vpon J7e dettys ])at they hyght, 
They payd als fast as ]>ei myght, 
To eu^ry man wer content. 

A gentyll stewerd he was hold; 5^5 

All men hym knew, jong and hold, 

Yn lond wer pat he wente. 
Ther fell to hym so grete ryches, 
He vansyd hys kynne, mour and les, 

The knyght cartas and hend. 57o 

Hys lady and he lyued many jere 
W/t/? loy and m^ry chere, 

Tyll god dyde for them send. 
fFor ^er godnes \ax. pel dyd here, 
Ther saulys went to heuew clere, 575 

Ther is loy w/tZ?-outen ende. 

Amen. 



DAME SIRIZ 

I . As I com by an waie. The opening lines are significant. 
In the first place, there is no direct address to the audience such 
as is usual in metrical romance. In the second place, the reference 
to source is not to a written source but to a wayside tale. Several 
of the popular ballads open in a similar wayj cf. nos. 26, 38, 108, 
180, 188, etc., in Child's collection. 

5. vnder gore. Cf. * glad under gore,* Boddeker, Altenglischc 
Dichtungen^ W. L, I, 16 5 < geynest vnder gore,' ib. W. L. 2, 37. 
* And slepe under my gore,' Chaucer's Sir Thopas^ 78. For other 
references, see Bradley-Stratmann, M. E. Diet, and N. E. D. 
The idea of the line is the same as that expressed at greater length 
by Host Baillyin speaking of the monk and of the Nun's Priest in 
the prologue and epilogue, respectively, to the Nonne Preestes Tale. 

ID. alon. The rime seems to demand alone, a M. E. com- 
pound from O. E. eall -\- ana. The line would then read, * to her 
alone belonged his heart.' Against this interpretation (favored by 
Professor Fliigel) may be cited the unusual use of hire with dative 
force and the early use of alone as a single word, not elsewhere cited 
as early as this. See N. E. D. A second possible interpretation 
of alon would be * all on, * since the manuscript does not make it 
clear whether one word is intended or two. This explanation has 
to assume imperfect rime. Cf. * On hir was al my love leyd,' Boke 
of the Duchesse, 1 146. A third explanation, advanced by Matzner, is 
that oflTered in the glossary to the present volume. This explanation 
involves imperfect rime, and lacks the support of perfect parallels, 
along, in this sense, being usually accompanied by the preposition o«, 
as in * Mi lif is al on pe ylong,' Boddeker, op. cit. G. L. viii, 154. 
For other instances, cf. Boddeker, glossary. 

13. 3erne he him bi-j70Ute, * earnestly he reflected.* 
Cf. * Godess peoww himm jeorne birrp bipennkenn,' Orm. 2916 
(Matzner). 



62 iliOtffi! 

14. moute. Matzner explains this form as an analogical one 
influenced by the infinitive form mugan^ and cites from Rich. R. of 
Hampole the form mught. 

19. wente him. The verb preserves its earlier meaning *turn' 
and hence takes an object. Cf. v. 155, etc. 

J?en. O. E. >.^w, dat. Cf. 22, 299. Cf. also Layamon, 14289, 

* to pan inne ' (cited by Matzner). 

22. J?en halle. The old gender distinction has been lost, since 
O. E. heal{^l) was feminine. 

23. palle. Cf. Sir Launfal (ed. Ritson), 944, < The lady v^^as 
clad yn purpere palle.' Matzner cites also Orm. 81 71, Layamon, i, 
55, L. Minot, p. 30, ToivneUy Plays, p. 186. 

25. Notice the form of greeting in keeping with clerkly dignity. 

26. SO ich euer bide wenne. A frequent form of assevera- 
tion, * as sure as I expect happiness.' Cf. vv. 113, it 6, 273, 433. 
Cf. also Chaucer's Nonne Preestes Tale, 246,- * So haue I loye or 
blis.' Matzner compares, * swaich abide are,' Lay. i, 129, * Swa ich 
aeuere ibiden are,' Lay. i, 141. 

wenne. The spelling is Kentish, but the rime i£ Midland. 
34. fre, * ready to give and act for you.' Cf. C\\2i\iccx'' s fredom^ 
also the similar development of meaning in * liberal.' 

37. Notice how the clerk maintains the sanctimonious manner 
shown in v. 25. Cf. also 112, 146, 161. 

38. Bote on J?at, * only provided that.' 

43. ^Vilekin. This diminutive form was probably not uncom- 
mon, since it has survived in the surname Wilkin. It is a Low 
German diminutive form. In the German tale Rittertreue (^Ge- 
sammtabenteuer, I, 6) appears the character * grave Wiilekin von 
Muntaburc' 

47. vilt€. The context seems to indicate a meaning like that of 
houncurteh in the preceding line. It looks as if the word has been 
influenced in meaning by the independent word of the same root 
form, 'vi/aniy2Lnd meant something like * boorishness ' or * churlish- 
ness.' The French word 'viltet means, according to Godefroy, 

* bassesse,' * etat miserable,' * chose miserable,' * meprisable,' and in 
the Chanson de Roland it is coupled with huntc, ' hunte e a viltet,' 
437. The word 'vilani, on the other hand, in lines 128 and 250, 
is coupled with ^ shame * and has a meaning more properly belong- 
ing to 'viltL 



il^otfS 63 

con. This word, like the modern French savoir^ expresses the 
two meanings of ^ know ' and ^ be able. ' Here it means * know.' 

54. J?at be J?OU bolde, * of that be assured.' Cf. Tzvain and 
Gaivain (ed. Schleich), 169, * pat be ^e balde,' 1285, * J?at be pou 
balde,' 2781, pat be ^e balde.* Cf. also Toiunl. Myst. (ed. Surt, 
Soc.)j p. 78 (Matzner). 

56. noui^t, * not at all.' O.E. na -{- ivi/it. 

62. setten spel on ende, * say my speech to the end * 
(Matzner). According to N. E. D. the phrase in M. E. means 

* begin a discourse.' 

75. OUre sire, *your husband.' The oure probably means 

* your,* though, as Matzner has pointed out, the singular forms of 
the second person are used. But cf. ou * you ' in Vox and Wolf, 
214, 215, 216. 

77. feire of botolfston. Boston takes its name from St. 
Botolph, the patron saint of sailors. According to the Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle (Parker MS. 654), Botulf ongon mynster timbran at 
Icanho. Around this monastery, which was destroyed by the Danes 
in 870, grew up a town. After the Norman Conquest Boston, or 
Botolfston, was a port of importance. In 1204, when the quin- 
%ieme tax was imposed on the ports of England, that of Boston was 
second in amount only to that of London. At this period a great an- 
nual fair was held at Boston, a great market held by special license 
from the king, a place that would naturally be visited by the mer- 
chant husband of dame Margeri. (Cf. Thom.of Walsingham, Hist, 
Angl. p. 54.) For reference to fairs and some of the customs con- 
nected with them, see P. Ploivman, A iv, 43, v, 119, 171, and 
Brand's Popular Antiquities (ed. Ellis), 11, 453-470. The etymol- 
ogy of *fair,' Lat. feriae, later firia, suggests that these yearly 
markets were held at times of church festivals (Matzner). 

In Chaucer's Shipman s Tale the deceived husband is absent at 
a fair in Bruges (v. 325). 

81, 82. Cf. Interludium, 5, 6. 

83. Cf. Sir Eglamour (ed. Halliwell), 1088, « Wele were hym 
that hur myght welde.' Cf. also Florisand Blaunchejiur ^ 251-4C. 

Wei were pat ilke mon 
Jjat mi^te winne wip pat on j 
Ne porte he neure, ful iwis, 
Wilne more of paradis. 



64 jliotes! 

seCC. Matzner's emendation to selc seems right. Cf. loi, 198, 
245> 264, 313. 

102. on flore. Cf. Interludium^ 9. 

116. So ich euer biden 30I. Similar expressions occur in 
lines 26, 133, 273. The modern equivalent is * as sure as Christ- 
mas.' See 26 note. 

119. CUrteis mon and hende. A frequently occurring 
formula in metrical romance. Cf. Sir humbras^ (Naples MS.) 15. 

* Curteis and hynde he was.' (Quoted by Halliwell, Thornton Ro- 
mances, p. 269, etc.) 

140. fa, scribal error for pat. 

143, Bi me I sale, * concerning myself I am speaking.* 

* That is my situation. ' 

146. Cf. 25 note, 37 note. Cf. also 112, 161. 

149—160, The quickness of the transition from the first dialogue 
to the second is noteworthy as indicating that the underlying form 
of the story is a dramatic version. It is also worthy of note that 
Wilekin is not merely a love-sick character needing to be coaxed 
by the go-between, but is active in every way in prosecuting his suit. 
He is not a hero of courtly romance. 

152. A frend him radde. That the advice of the friend and 
the method of wooing subsequently adopted, were not strange to 
English life of the fourteenth century must be inferred from Piers 
Ploivman (C vii. 185, 186) where Luxuria confesses that he — 

. , . sende out olde baudes 
For to Wynne to my wil • wommen with gyle ; 
By sorcerye som tyme • and some tyme by maistrye. 

154. Siriz. This name does not appear in English outside the 
present poem. The variant spelling Sirip indicates the true pronun- 
ciation, as is proved by the rimes (161— 2, 267-8), the 'z replacing 
p, as in ivi'z 1 62 (for ivip), seiz 1 79. The name cannot be French, 
as is indicated by the non-French ending -p. It is more likely from 
the Norse SigriSr, a name which is not surprising if, as Heuser 
{^Anglia, XXX, 318) believes, the work was originally composed in 
the Danish East of England. The name may, however, be derived 
from the O. E. Sigehred, analogous with the O. E. Sigebryht. 

156. Sui]?e, * quickly.' The development in meaning is the 
same as in the Germzn geschivindf which comes from the same root, 
meaning * strong.* 



0Ott& 65 

159. WOrdeS milde. A frequent expression in metrical ro- 
mance. Cf. Sir Eg/amour (ed. Halliwell), 85, 607. 

161,162. Siriz, wiz. The rime indicates the pronunciation 
as Sirith. 

173. nelde. This word is usually printed as a proper noun. 
The word, which is always used vocatively, probably means ' old 
lady' and is, as Heuser has pointed out (o/>. cit. p. 319) parallel 
with mome in the Inter ludium. The initial n certainly comes from 
a preceding indefinite article, and is the result of wrong division be- 
tween words. Such wrong division is frequent. For instance, in A 
Pennyworth of Wit appear anice for a nice 34, ^ neld for an eld 
79, no noper for nonoper 194, pinold {or pin old 341, peldman 157. 

173 ff. Some of the phrases in this love complaint are similar to 
those in contemporary love lyrics. For example, with line 182 com- 
pare * On molde y waxe mad,' Boddeker, Altengl. Dichtungen^ 
W. L. Ill, 2, or with line 189, * broht icham in wo,' op. c'tt. 13. 
On the whole, however, the language, in spite of the stiffness of the 
versification, is appropriately prosaic. 

179. seiz, for seip. Cf iviz for ivip 162, Siriz for Sirip, 

194. senne, see note to V. 26. 

201, Blesse fe. The earliest use of this phrase in exclamation 
cited in N. E. D. is 1590. 

204. harde I-bonden. Cf. Ludus Co'ventriae (ed. Halli- 
well, p. 345) where Anima Christi says of the devil, ** fful harde 
I xal hym bynde." 

212. hem mote wel Spede, *for them [things] may speed 
well ' (or * prosper'). 

216. On him f is. Elliptical expression. * That * must be sup- 
plied in translation. 

233. Cf. Interludium^ 22. 

240. word on honde. Matzner conjectures that on is for an, 
which appears not infrequently for and. It would be less arbitrary, in 
my opinion, to assume here a reference to the raising of the right 
hand in taking oath. Cf. — 

King Arthur then held up his hand 
According there as was the law. 
The Marriage of Sir Gaivain, stanza 55 Child, Ballads^ no. 3 1. 

Cf. also the discussion of an analogous O.E. phrase, hand ofer heafod^ 
by F. Tupper, Jr., yourn. of Engl, and Germ. Phil. xi. 97 ff. 



66 jliotes 

247. SOmer driuen. Matzner assumes either sumer-driueriy 

* sumpter-driven,' (O. E. seamere), or [on'] sumer^ Mn summer,* 
or a corrupt line. The first assumption seems most plausible. For an 
account of the custom of punishing women by making them ride 
on an ass, see Grimm, Rec/itsalt, 4th ed. 11, p. 318. In the Chan- 
son de Roland^ Ganelon, in announcing to Marsilies the punishment 
in store for him, says, — 

** Getez serez sur un malvais sumier 
par jugement iloec perdrez le chief: *' [481—2]. 
Cf. also 701, 1828. In these instances 5«wz/(?/' means *mule' or 

* ass. ' This same word in England had a developed meaning, and in 
the dialects sum(m)er is used as the name of supporting beams of 
various kinds. It seems possible, then, that the custom alluded to in 
the text is that of chari'vari. Cf. Wright, Dialect Dictionary under 
summer. 

261. Togoder hele. Matzner* s reading To goder hele is 
right. The phrase ^ goder hele ' is not infrequent. Matzner cites Lay. 
I. 153, Rob. of Gl. 368, Toivnl. Myst. p. 89. Cf. bIso goder hi le, 
268 below. TVroper-hele is not infrequent. Cf. P. Floivman^ B 
XIV, 120, Boddeker, op. cit. p. 451. 

273. So ich euere. See 26 note. 

277. maistri, * artifice,' ^ trick.* Perhaps influenced in its 
meaning by the independent word mystery. 

2yg, The transition from addressing Wilekin to addressing the 
dog is very abrupt and is good evidence in support of Heuser's con- 
tention that the Dame Siri-z is based upon a dramatic original. 

Pepis. Matzner reads Pepir and seems certainly to be right in 
his emendation. The use of pepper is one of the oriental traits in 
the Dame Siri%, Cf. Introduction. 

315. Sell wif, * good woman.' Cf. 337. 

hounbinde. Cf. harde I-bonden^ 204. 

324. daus == the more frequent *dawes.' O. E. dagas. 

to non. This expression remains a crux. Matzner suggests * at 
noon,' and it is worth remembering that anchorites and hermits took 
but one meal a day, and that meal came at 12 instead of 9 on fast- 
days. Cf. P. Ploivman (ed. Skeat), B vi, 146 note. Can the au- 
thor's conception have been that Christ merely kept forty successive 
fast days ? Cf. Sir Cleges, 324 note. 



0ott& 67 

340. Feiror, etc. : A stereotyped form of expression. Cf. 
Sir Isumbras (ed. Halliwell), 25, 26. 

Als fayre a lady to wyefe had he 
Als any erthly mane thurte see. 

353. clerc to wiche. The medieval idea of the command 
of clerks over the powers of magic is illustrated in the popular stories 
that grew up about Roger Bacon. Upon this command depends the 
well known medieval popular tale, appearing in various forms as 
Le Pawvre Clerc, Der arme Schuler, The Freiris of Berivik, etc. 
Threats of transformation were used by others besides clerks. Ralph 
Roister Doister (iv, 3), wooing Christian Custance, threatens 

** Yes, in faith, Kitte, I shall thee and thine so charme 
That all women incarnate by thee may beware. ' ' 

390, 421. belle. Matzner translates as < belly* and cites the 
analogy of other oaths referring to parts of God's body, blood, bones, 
etc. It must be noted, however, that the M. E. word for ^ belly ' 
without exception elsewhere has a final - / or -y or -u or -iu to 
correspond with the final -g of O. E. belg, baelg. Another possible 
interpretation, cited by Matzner from Wright's Pro'v. Dictionary^ 
is * mantle.' Bradley-Stratmann cites belle, meaning * tunic,' and 
the allusion in the oath may be to a garment familiar through 
representations of God in liturgical plays or mystery plays. A more 
likely interpretation, however, is ' bell,' referring to the bell used in 
the mass. * By bell and book,' or *book and bell,' was a frequent 
form of asseveration in the Middle Ages (cf. N. E. D.). Cf. also 
** by seint Poules belle," one of the oaths of Host Bailly {Prol. to 
Nonnes Preestes Tale, 14). Cf. also : * by buke and by belle ' 
{^Aivntyrt of Arthur e, 30); * Than he hym cursyd with boke and 
belle' yll2C[\t[zn Morte Arthur, 3018). 

** But Jjat ich wille, pat ]?ou swere 
On auter and on messegere, 
On l^e belles pat men ringes. 
On messeboke }?e prest on singes." 
Ha'velok. (Emerson, M. E. Reader, p. 76, vv. 23-26.) 

406. wente hire, cf. 19 note. 

411. for fider, forforp pi der. 



68 ^om 



THE vox AND WOLF 

I. vox, a characteristic Southern form. The corresponding 
feminine form persists in modern English, as * vixen.' 

9. strok. One would like to take this as the preterit of 
itrecchen^ suggesting the stretching involved in peering. Matzner's 
interpretation, however, is probably the correct one • * went,* 

* passed,' O. E. strtcan. The furtive movements of the fox are well 
expressed by this word. Notice the opposite developments in mean- 
ing in mod. Engl, strike and siving. 

12. WOUS. The tv- replaces i'- as it does in ivox 12, 33 (for 
'vox). /^o«5 would be the Southern M. E. form for O. E. fuSf 

* ready,' * prepared.' 

21. bruche. Matzner explains as * opportunity ' from O. E. 
^rycgy *use,' * profit.' Is it not more probably from O. E. hrece^ 
brice, * breaking, ' * breach ? ' The Southern character of the text is 
sufficient to explain the u for the O. E. /. Cf. the rime, * kun^ 
him, 123-45 sugge, abugge, 207-8 ; sitte, putte, 281—2. 

22. "WOnd, *got,' * passed ' (Matzner). Perhaps the original 
meaning of the word was still felt, and it may be translated by 

* twisted ' or * wriggled.' 

26, haiward, ' hedge-ward,' an officer whose duty it was to 
protect the growing crops in the enclosed fields. Cf. Piers Floivman^ 
C VI, 16, and C xiv, 45, and the notes by Skeat, who cites from 
the romance Q>i Alisander (ed. Weber, 1. 5754) : 

In tyme of heruest mery it is ynough, 
Peres and apples hongeth on bough ; 
The hayward bloweth mery his home, 
In eueryche felde ripe is corne. 
The second passage cited reads as follows : 

Thauh the messager make hus wey • a-mydde the whetc, 
Wole nowys man wroth be • ne hus wed take j 
Ys non haiwarde yhote • hus wed for to take ; 

Necessitas non habet legem. 
Ac yf the marchaunt make hus way * ouere menne corne, 
And the haywarde happe • with hym for to mete, 
Other hus hatt other hus hode • othere elles hus gloues 
The marchaunt mot for-go • other moneye of hus porse. 



^OttS 69 

That the hayward*s police duties were somewhat more general in 
character than the etymology of his name would indicate, is shown 
by the following passages cited by Matzner. 

<*The hay ward heteth us harm to habben of his ; 
The bailif bockneth us bale." 

Wright, Political Songs j p. 149. 

and **Canstow . . . have an home and be hay-warde, 

And Hggen out a nyghtes, 
And kepe my corn in my croft 
From pykers and theeves." 

Cf. the hay wart's part in the poem on the * Man in the Moon * 
(Harl. MS. 2253, ed. Boddeker, 177). The reeve was the overseer 
of a farm or manor. 

3 1 . There seem to have been some lines omitted between lines 
30 and 31. The fox seems to have devoured some of the hens, per- 
haps two of the four. Cf. 40, 54, 55, ojjre 58, 68, 98. Cf. 129 
note, 151 note. 

43. heddre. Matzner suggests the insertion of b/od after AeJ- 
dre. He also cites, * Hwon heo beo'S ileten blod on one crm 
eddre,* Ancr. Riw, p. 258. * Wi^uten eddren capitalen pet bled- 
den,' ib. 

78. nom fat boket, Cf. the modern uses of the word * take ' 
in * take a high note ' in singing, or * take a fence * in the sense of 
* vault. ' 

87, 88. The litotes in these lines is effective. The lines have 
Chaucerian quality. 

93. The sense seems to require a negative statement. If so the 
negative ne is carelessly omitted through confusion with the ending 
-ne in ^erne. Cf. Aquenche^ 112. Or is the line to be understood 
as meaning, (in general) when he found water, he drank eagerly, 
but . . } 

96-7, 1 01-2. Notice the gnomic expressions, which are char- 
acteristic of popular lore, from which the present poem has obviously 
been derived. 

106. hiis. The initial h- is dialectal j the vowel length is 
** poetic license." Cf. Bedier's comment on the carelessness con- 
cerning rimes in the Yxenzh. fabliaux , (2>j Fabliaux, pp. 342 fF. ) 



70 ^otta 

X23-4. '^^^ ""^^ seems to indicate Midland dialect, but the rime 
is obviously imperfect. Cf. 263-4. 

128. Sigrim. The distinctively English form of this proper 
name shows that the story circulated in English popular lore. The 
same remark applies to Reneuard^ 133. 

135, hedde, Southern form. 

140. paradiis. Cf. Introd. p. xii. 

140-7. This description of the joys of paradise is less concrete 
than other descriptions in this story. It is expressed in terms ap- 
propriate to the listening wolf, but is distinctly reminiscent of the 
contemporary humorous poem, The Land of Cokaygne. For a dis- 
cussion of the burlesque element in descriptions of an Earthly Para- 
dise, cf. Schofield, Puhl. M. L. A. xix. 187 ff. 

151. There seems to be something omitted at this point, — 
further evidence (cf, 31 note and 129 note) that this English version 
is abridged in places. 

159. vend for ivend. See note to vv. 12 and 33. 

162. fond. Plainly the nme fond ^ goed, is ** poetic license.*' 
Cf. Bedier, op. cit. 342. 

167. bef, 3 pi. Southern form, cf. 295 217, etc. 

get, a survival of the O. E. mutated plural. 

178. to . . . I-take. Cf Mod. Engl. * take to drink,* etc. 

199. I-faie. The rime shows the manuscript reading to be 
wrong. 

199 ff. The enforced confession of Sigrim finds parallels in the 
devil's confession in CynewulPs yuliana and in that of Faux- 
Semblaunt in the Roman de la Rose. Analogous literary compositions 
are the confession of Chaucer's Pardoner and such later satirical 
compositions as Colyn BloivboV i Testament. 

207-8. SUgge, abugge. A Kentish rime. O. E. secgan^ 
abycgan. Cf. 24 1— 2. 

224. oferes kunnes. Cf. nones kunneSy 294. 

233. bruche. Cf 21 note. 

246. Ich wille OUp. Cf. Modem dialect, * I want out,* etc. 

256. Wroggen, 'frogs.* Cf. 12 note, 33, 159 note. 

264. Ine, for inne (Matzner), another instance of a word dis- 
torted by the scribe for the sake of the rime. Cf. 106, 162. The 
author of the original was not averse to assonance. Cf. 123-4, 
249-50. 



265. houssong. Cf. 270, 274. The origin of this interest- 
ing word is thus traced by Prof. F. Tupper, Jr. : houssong < (-^ ) out- 
song < utsong < uhtsong^ ^ matins.' 

272. curtiler, * gardener in a monastery.' Cf. the <<Curtal 
Friar" in the Robin Hood ballad. 

SIR CLEGES 

Since the difference between the two texts is so great that it is 
impossible to print the variant readings at the bottom of the pages, 
it seems desirable to illustrate the difference by printing the first 
stanza of the E, text in full in the notes : — 



wi 



'ILL ye lystyn, and ye schyll here 
Of Eldyrs that before vs were 

Bothe hardy and wy^t. 
In the tyme of kynge Vterer 
That was Fadyr of kynge A[r]thyr, 

A semely man in si^t. 
He hade A kny^t "pat hight sir Cleges, 
A dowtyar was non of dedis 

Of the Rovnd tabull Right. 
He was A man of hight stature, 
And therto full fayr of ffetur^ 

And Also of Gret my^t. 

I, 2. Lystyns, lordynges ... A conventional minstrel 
address to his audience. Cf. Sir Eg/amour ^ 4, 5, Sir humbras^ 4, 5, 
Octa'vian (South, vers. 20), etc. The variant forms of this manner 
of opening a story are illustrated in an interesting manner by Halli- 
well ( Thornton Romances^ 267—9), ^^° ^^^^' ^^^ varying opening 
lines from six texts of Sir Isumbras. 

3. herdy and wyght. Stereotyped expression. Cf. the Squyr 
of Loive Degre (ed. Mead), 9, and the parallel passages cited by the 
editor from Kyng Alisaundery 4892; Arthour and Merlin^ 453^5 
Eglamour^ 8 ; Guy of JVarivick^ B 1 434 ; Lancelot^ ^59^ > ^g^"^ 
and Grime ^ ^573 5 humbras^ 8. Further instances are not hard to 
find : e.g. Sir Degrevant (ed. Halliwell), 10, 102, and the present 
poem, 537. 



72 iliotffif 

4. Vter and Pendragoun. In the romances of Merlin 
Vther is represented as being the younger brother of Pendragon. 
The E. text obviously offers the correct reading here. 

6. A sembly man of Syght. Cf. *semely on to see,* 
Erl of To/ouSy 121 7; *semly were to see,' Sir humbras, 15. 
Cf. present poem, 27. 

7. Sir Clegys. The name is not a common one. It is used 
a few times in Malory's Morte d' Arthur. The name Syr Clegius 
(Schir Clegis) also appears in the Aivnturs of Arthur , 96. 

9. ronde-tabull. The connection of this story with the Ar- 
thurian cycle, it will be noticed, is the slightest. The story of Sir 
Cleges, like that of another generous Arthurian knight. Sir Launfal, 
was originally quite independent. 

10-12. For similar conventional descriptions of strength see Sir 
humbras, 13-15, etc.. The Grene Knight, 41, etc. 

13. curtas, 15. gentyll and fre. Cf. Chaucer's Knight, 
18. gold and fe. A phrase of frequent occurrence. Cf. Sir 
Isumbrasj 270, 292, Sir Amadace, 849, Squyr of Loive Degre^ 
481. Cf. present text, 437. 

20. buske. Prof. J. M. Hart suggests that the word buskehtxc 
is used transitively in the sense * hasten ' (cf. A^". E. D. buske, 6) and 
that its use here is like the modern colloquial transitive use of * hustle,' 
an interpretation quite in keeping with the amiable character of the 
knight. Cf. E. text : 

The pore pepuli he wold Releve 
And no man wold he Greve. 

25. wyfT. Cf. description of a noble wife in Sir IsumbraSf 
25-30. 

38. crystynmes. For a contemporary account of Christmas 
festivities, see Sir Gaivayne and the Grene Knight, Sir Perce-val^ 
1803, stanzas iii, xx, xxi, Berners-Froissart, vol. IV, p. 150, Book 
II, Cap. 28. For contemporary account of entertainment for the 
poor, see Clannesse, 77ff. 

46, 49. MynstrelluS. See note by Halliwell, Thornton Ro- 
mances, p. 270, Sir Degrcvant, 81 ff., 115 7, 1861, Sir Egl amour ^ 
1327, Torrent of Portyngale, 941-3, Sir Isumbras, 19—21, Libeaus 
Disconus, 21 16, Octa'vian (South, vers.), 67-72, Sir Thopas, 134. 



0om 73 

See also Piers P/otvfnan (ed. Skeat), Bxiii, 225 ff., 437 ff., C viii, 
97 ff. , C X, 127-136 and notes. 
57. dy^ed vpon }?e rode. Cf. Sir humbras, 247, 286. 

66. all-my^ht. Note the riming words, quytc^ lyte, showing 
that the ^h was not pronounced. 

73. Hys ryalty he forderyd ay. * His munificence, 
he continued ever.' In N. E. D. the earliest citation of ' royalty * 
with this meaning is 1548. £. reads. This rialte he made than 
Aye. 

79 fF. At this point this story differs from Sir Amadace^ of which 
the beginning is strikingly similar. Sir Amadace is advised to ^* putte 
away fulle mony of ^our men," but prefers to conceal his straitened 
circumstances, and keeps up appearances by being more liberal than 
ever, 37-60. 

85. 86, Notice the rimes eue^ ivyfeiO. E. F : O. E. a) which 
indicate a pronunciation of the sound from O. E. T tending toward 
the modern pronunciation. Cf. Note to 219, 222, 225, 228. 

86. E. has : The kynge be-thou^t hym full E'vyn. 

87. CardyfF. Caerleon, near Cardiff, is the more usual center 
in Arthurian story. 

89. SWO wny ng. Not unusual for heroes of medieval romance. 
See Floris and Blauncheflur^ 246, etc. 

92. And he, he had . . . E. offers the better reading, And 
hoive he hade his maners sold. 

94. Mekyll. Northern dialect. Cf. also 107. In each of these 
cases E. has the Southern form mech. 

96. pride, wyde, tyde, syde. These rimes, which arc 
the same in E., are sufficient to indicate a non-Southern dialect. 

99. dyuerse mynstralsy. Similar lists of musical instru- 
ments are frequent. Cf. Sir Launfal, 669, Pearly 91, Squyr of 
Loive Degre (ed. Mead), 1069 ff., with citations, in the notes, of 
similar passages. Rich. Coer de L. (ed. Weber), 3429, 3430, 
461 5-461 9, Emare, 388-390, 867, Kyng Alisaunder (ed. Weber), 
1041— 1046, Thomas of Erceld. (Thornton), vv. i^j-zdo, Libeaus 
Disconus (ed. Kaluza), vv. 148-150, Buke of the Houlate (ed. 
Diebler), 755-767. Cf. also Sir Degrenjant (ed. Halliwell), 35 ff., 
and note by the editor (p. 289) in which is quoted the following 
from Lydgate : — 



74 il5otes( 

For they koude the practykc 
Of al maner mynstralcye, 
That any mane kane specifye j 
For ther wer rotys of Almanye 
And eke of Arragone and Spayne : 
Songes, stampes, and eke daunces, 
Dyvers plente of pleasaunces, 
And many unkouth notys newe 
Of swich folkys as lovde trewe ; 
And instrumentys that dyde excelle, 
Many moo thane I kane telle. 
Harpys, fythels, and eke rotys, 
Wei accordyng with her notys, 
Lutys, rubibis, and geterns, 
More for estatys than taverns : 
Orguys, cytolys, monacordys; 
And ther wer founde noo discordys 

Nor variaunce in ther souns, 

Nor lak of noo proporsiouns. 

1 01. notys, luttys in E. 

106,107. sore, fer. Y.. sore ^ there. The apparently imper- 
fect rime seems to be due to scribal writing of per for original pore* 
Cf. the rimes of the sounds concerned, 148, 149, 195, 198,201, 
204, 363, 366, 369, 372, 442, 443, 469, 470, 447-454- For 
another possible explanation, see 148, 149 note. 

112. won to. Cf. ivonte to, E. 

1 13 ff. Cf. 16 ff., 37 if. For similar instances of generosity, see 
Sir Amadace (ed. Robson), stanzas iv, v, and xiii, xiv. 

119. longes. Northern conjugation. 

122 fF. The passage that follows is probably as fine a domestic 
scene as any in Middle English metrical romance. Dame Clarys chal- 
lenges comparison with Le Freine, Constance, the faithful wife in 
The Pennyworth of Wit, or even with Griselda. She is the most 
human of them all. The only scene rivaling the present one, that 
occurs to me, is the one at the end of Amii and Amiloun (ed. 
Kolbing), 2413-24. 

129. stynte. This rime, which occurs in both texts, indicates 



^tti 75 

that in the dialect of the author O.E. y sometimes at least appears 
as e. C£. Morsbach, Mittelenglische Grammatiky §§ 127 ff. 

148, 149. care, mour. This rime shows the Northern, or 
Scotch, dialect of this version. The E. version in these lines 
seems better to preserve the original, * But neuer-pe-les hys hart was 
sore.* Cf. 106, 107, note. * And sche hym Comforttyd more and 
more. * 

151, 152. blyth, blyue. E. has the better reading, blyth, 
iiuyth. 

154. wesche and went to mete. Equivalent expressions 
are frequent. Cf. Sir Degrcvant (ed. Halliwell), 662, 1392, and the 
editor's references to EmarCy 218, Sir Gaivayne (ed. Madden), p. 
34. Cf. also P. Plouumatiy B xiii, 28, C xvi, 32. * Thei wesshen 
and wypeden and wenten to the dyner. ' 

161. euensong. Vesper services that marked the close of the 
day (E. soper). Cf. P. Ploivmariy C vii, 396, where Gloton and 
his companions sit in th^ ale-house * til euesong rang.* 

160, 161. dyde, bede (E. ded, bede). Cf 129 note. 

162. Serteyn. Cf. sertaynCyLudus Co'vgntriae{ed.Ha]lmc\\) 
p. 53. I have been unable to make a satisfactory explanation of this 
word. The reading in E. is clear, TVhan yt was tyme of ny^t. 

163. rong at fe chyrche. Reference to the bell summon- 
ing to matins. In Piers Plowman y C x, 227 ff., we read that both 
Uivede and lordes ought — 

Vp-on Sonedayes to cesse (daily occupations) . godcs seruyce to 
huyre. 
Bothe matyns and messe . and after mete, in churches 
To huyre here euesong . euery man ouhte, 
Thus it by-longeth for lorde, . for lered, and lewede, 
Eche halyday to huyre . hollyche the seruice. 

See also Sir Degre'vant (ed. Halliwell) : -^ 

Tylle the day wex clere, 

Undurne and mare 5 
Whyle that hurde thei a bell 

Ryng in a chapell j 
To chyrche the gay dammiscl 

Buskede hyr ^are. (11. 619-624.) 



76 0OttS 

With an orrelegge one hy^th 
To rynge the ours at ny^th 
To waken My More the bry^th 

With bellus to knylle. (11. 1452-1456.) 

166-8. Not in E. 

180. E. has And put Aivay penci. 

1 81-2. Assonance. E. has cam, than. 

183. stynt, wente. Cf. 129 note, 160 note. 

191. pouerte, hert (E. pouem, hartt). The accentuation 
oi poutrtt varies. That the accentuation indicated by the present 
rime is not exceptional is shown by the identical rime in Sir Laun- 
fal, herte, po'vert, scherte, smertCy ed. Ritson, 195 ff. But see in 
the present text, pouerte, 252, riming with jorneye, fre, sc/ie. 

194, chery-tre, see Introduction, p. Ixvi. 

210. Spare wold he n0U3ht. Similar verse tags are fre- 
quent. Cf. * for no cost wolde he spare,' Chaucer's Prologue, 192. 
* For nothyng wolde he spare,' Sir Eg/amour (ed. Halliwell), 552. 

223-5* These lines, so well in keeping with the character of 
Dame Clarys, are not in E. 

219, 222, 225, 228. The rimes, O. E. -Itce, O. E. neahy 
O. F. -te, seem to indicate a fifteenth-century origin for the poem. 
The rimes in E. are similar : sekerly, me, treivly. 

226, 227. mour, }?er-fore. (Not in E.) The rimes here 
indicate a pronunciation different from that indicated in 148, 149. 
See also 106, 107 note. 

232. dey do spryng. Cf. Chaucer's Prologue, 822, Torrent 
of Portugal (ed. Halliwell), 362, etc. 

241. dey-lyght. The reference to early rising is not unusual. 
See King Horn (E. E. T. S.), 527, Sir Eglamour (ed. Halli- 
weU), 359. 

248. SO seyth fe boke. A frequent verse tag. Not neces- 
sarily a reference to a literary original. 

252. E. has the better reading, As A man in pouerte. 

255. Crystenmes dey. The chronology in this story offers 
difficulty. The incidents of Christmas eve, 85-162, and of Christ- 
mas day, 163-240, have already been narrated. The day of the 
journey to Cardiff should be the day after Christmas. 

258. At none. Since E. has Anon, too much weight must 



0Ott& 77 

not be laid on the evidence of this passage regarding meal-times. 
Whether none had its earlier reference to 3 p. m., or its later one 
to 12 M., it can hardly be assumed to have been a time for the 
principal meal. The fact that this was Christmas day may have 
some bearing on the subject. Cf. Piers Ploivman (ed. Skeat), 
vol. II, p. 112. Cf. Dame Siri%, 324 note. 

262. portere. There seems to be personal animus in the way 
the porter is represented. The minstrel was well accustomed to ill 
treatment from the porters, and the surly porter appears frequently 
in minstrel story. Cf. King Horn, Ii55ff. See note by Creek, 
y. G. Phil. X, 436, and references to John de Reeue, ji^ ff. , 
Home Childe, 958 ff., etc. For instances where the porter loses his 
life, see Child, Engl, and Scot. Pop. Ballads, no. 119, note iii, 
Part I, p. 95 note. 

263. Thow. The distinction between the contemptuous singu- 
lar and the respectful plural is well illustrated in the language of the 
servants to Cleges and in his replies. 

265. be God. Notice the number of oaths used by the porter 
and the other servants. Cf. 283, 285, 313, 340, 345. 

267. begers route. Cf. King Horn, 11 59 ff.. Piers Ploiv- 
man, B XII, 198 ff., C XV, 138 ff. 

** Ich haue mete more than ynough • acnou^t so moche worship 
As tho that seten atte syde-table • or with the souereignes of the 

haUe 
But sitte as a begger bordelees * bi my-self on the grounde.** 

286. thyrd parte. The artificiality of this feature of the pres- 
ent version is apparent. The same applies to v. 317 and v. 346. 

293. officers. The French word here has the French nom- 
inative ending. E. 'vsschere. Cf. 310. 

310, 311. The rimes -ly (O. E. Itce), sey (O. E. seah), in- 
dicate the beginning of the opening in the pronunciation of O.E. t. 
Cf. 315, 318, and 219-28 note. 

319. "wone (E. von). Apparently from O. N. 'van. Cf. The 
Erl of Tolous, 1 1 34. Cited by Emerson, M. E, Reader, p. 113, 
1. 12. 

348. oute. E. reads, Ar for there gost pu nctt, which affords 
better rime. 



78 0Ott6 

352, 353. gete, mete. The rime, with long vowel, is his- 
torically correct. O. E. mete, O. N. geta. 

363 ff. sore, more, be-for. Cf. 106, 107 note, 148, 149 
note. 

364, 365. rewerd, parte (E. Reivardy pan). Imperfect 
rime? Cf. 511, 512. 

367-9. Not in E. 

370. E. has, Vpe to the Jesse (dais) sir Cleges went, affording a 
better idea of the situation in the hall. 

376 ff. The pious tone here and elsewhere is hardly in keeping 
with the nature of the anecdote. 

382, 383. Assonance. So in E. 

386 ff. The author shows familiarity with the story of the love 
between Vther and Ygerne, wife of the Duke of Tintagel in Corn- 
wall. 

399. hym. E. has the better reading, noive. 

406. E. reads. To the kyng he spake full styll, which affords bet- 
ter rime and better meaning. 

418-20. Not in E. 

418, 424. lond our lede. The stanzas are frequently linked 
together by a form of echo, or of incremental repetition. Cf. 46- 
49, 59-61, 68-74, 129-133, 188-193, 204-205, 324-325, 
333-339, 464-473, etc. 

432. Charyte. Charity is personified as a saint. See Sir 
Jsumbras, 152, and note by Halliwell in which are cited instances of 
similar use in Spenser and in Shakespeare {Hamlet, iv. 5). 

437. had be better : E. haddyst be better. 

461. sore strokes. Cf. Sir Eglamour (ed. Halliwell), 47, 
* So sore strokes he them gaue.* 

474. ryde ne go, *ride or walk.* Cf. Sir Isumbras (cd. 
Halliwell), 56, * I maye bothe ryde and goo.* 

479. The minstrel's limited range of expression is evident. 

481. pari ere. The author of Piers Ploivman (B x, 93-99) 
deplores the desertion of the hall for private rooms : — 

Elyng is the halle • vche daye in the wyke. 
There the lord ne the lady • liketh nou^te to sytte 
Now hath vche riche a rcule • to eten bi hym-seluc 



j^otes 79 

In a pryue parloure ' for pore mennes sake, 

Or in a chambre with a chymneye • and leue the chief halle, 

That was made for mclcs • men to eten inne j 

484 if. The E. text at this point differs in certain important 
details and seems to preserve better the original story. 

An harpor sange A gest he mowth 
Of a knyght there be sowth j 

Hym-selffe werament. 
Than seyd the kynge to pe harpor : 
** Werd ys kny^t Cleges, tell me herrtf 
For J7u hast wyde I-went. 
Tell me Trewth yf p\i Can, 
Knowyste pu of pat man ? ' * 

The harpor seyd, ** Yee, I-wysse.*' 

** Sum tyme for soth I hym knewe 5 
He was A kny^t of your^s full trewe. 

And Comly of Gesture. 
We mynstrellys mysse hym sekyrly, 
Seth he went out of Cuntr^ : 

He was fayr^ of stature. ' ' 
The kynge seyd, ** be myn^ hede ! 
I trowe pat sir Cleges be dede, 

That I lovyd p^ramor^ : 
Wold god he were A-lyfe! 
I hade hym levers? than othyr v. 

For he was stronge in stowr^.** 

503. had hym leuer. Had is used in the sense * hold,* 
* regard. * 

524-6, E. reads: 

<< Hast pu,*' he seyd, " thy Reward ? ** 
<* Be Cryst, he ys to lowe! '' 
The sty ward seyd wit A lok Grym. 

527, 528. E. is imperfect here. The dewle hym born on A 
loive^ and the lines of the present text seem like awkward im- 
promptu. 



8o ^otte 



544. E. ends with this line, and Weber, not knowing of the 
existence of the O. manuscript, supplies the following not unsuitable 
conclusion : 

With many other yeftes moo, 

Miri to lyue and blyth. 
The knyght rode to dame Clarys his wyue, 
Faire[r] ladie was non olyue 5 

He schewyd his yeftes swyth. 
Now to Mari that hende may, 
For all your sowlys Y her pray 
That to my talys lythe. 

554. coler. "The investiture by a collar and a pair of spurs 
was the creation of an esquire in the middle ages : " — Fairholt, Cos- 
tume in England (ed. Dillon), 11, 127, thus quoted by W. E. Mead 
in his edition of T/ie Squyr of Loive Degre, p. 47. Cf. Way's exc. 
note to Prompt. Par'vul. s. 'v. CoUer, p. 87. 



I. DISCUSSION OF FABLIAUX 

J. Bedier, Les Fabliaux, 2^ ed. Paris, 1895. 

J. Bedier, article in the Petit de Julleville Histoire de la Langue 

et dt la Litterature fran^aise, vol. 11. 
J. V/ Le Clerc, Histoire litteraire de la France, vol. xxiii. 
F. Brunetiere, Re'vue des Deux Mondes, Sept., 1893. 
O. PiLz, Die Bedeutung des Wortes Fablel. Stettin, 1889. 

B. TEN Brink, Geschichte der englischen Litter atur, i, 221, 224, 
234, 318, 323, II, 130, 136, 153, 159, 167, 170, 179, 621. 

J.J. Jusserand, a Literary History of the English People, i, 1 1 8, 

152, 183, 184, 225, 325, 442, 447, 496, 498. 
H. MoRLEY, English Writers, iii, 336, 378. 
W. H. ScHOFiELD, English Literature from the Norman Conquest to 

Chaucer, 118, 3^3-3^6, 338, 348, 479. 
Ward and Waller, Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. 

I, ch. XVII. 
W. M. Hart, The Ree've's Tale. Publ. M. L. A. America^ 

XXIII, 1-44. 
W. M. Hart, The Fabliau and Popular Literature. Publ. 

M. L. A. America, xxiii, 329-374. 
H. S. Canby, The English Fabliau. Publ. M. L. A. America, xxi, 

pp. 200-214. 

C. Fromentin, Essai sur les Fabliaux Fran^ais du XIU et du 
Xllle Siecle. Saint-fitienne, 1877. 

F. Herrmann, Schilderung und Beurtheilung der Gesellschaftlichen 
Verhdltnisse Frankreichs in der Fabliaudichtung des XII und 
XIII Jahrhunderts, diss. Coburg, 1900. 

II. COLLECTIONS OF FABLIAUX AND OF STORIES 
USED IN FABLIAUX 

Barbazan, Fabliaux et Contes . . . des Xlh, Xllh, XIV* 

et XVe Siecles ... 3 vols. Paris, 1 756. 
Legrand, Fabliaux ou Contes du Xlh et du XIII^ Siecle ... 4 

vols. Paris, 1779. 



82 Bibliograptil? 

Barbazan-Meon, Fabliaux et Contes fran^ais des XI'^ Xlh^ 

XIII', XIV' et XV' Siecles, nouvelle edition ... 4 vols. 

Paris, 1808. 
M. Meon, Nowveau Recueil de Fabliaux et Contes ... 2 vols. 

Paris, 1823. 
JuBiNAL, Nowveau Recueil de Contes, Dits^ Fabliaux ... 2 vols. 

Paris, 1839-42. 
A. deMontaiglon and G. Raynaud, Recueil general et complet des 

Fabliaux des XIII' et XIV' Siecles, 6 vols. Paris, 1 8 72-1 890. 
F. H. VON der Hagen, Gesammtabenteuer . 1850. 
J. Pauli, Schimpf und Ernst, hrgb. v. H. Osterley. 1866. 
J. Ulrich, Proben der lateinischen No'vellistik des Mittelalters. 

Leipzig, 1906. 
T. Wright, Latin Stories (Percy Soc). London, 1842. 
Nicole Bozon, Les Contes Moralises, ed. by L. T. Smith and P. 

Meyer. Paris, 1889. 
Jacques de Vitry, Exempla, ed. by T. F. Crane. London, 1890. 
£tienne de Bourbon, Anecdotes historiques, Legendes et Apologues 

tires . . . par A. Lccoy de La Marche (Soc. de PHistoire de 

France). 1877. 
Petrus Alphonsus, Disciplina Clericalis (^Soc. des Biblioph.fran^, 

Melanges). Paris, 1825. 

Another ed. by F. W. Val Schmidt. Berlin, 1827. 

Cf. V. Chauvin, Bibliographie des Owvrages arabes, ix, pp. 

1—44. Liege and Leipzig, 1905. 
Le Chastoiement d' un Pere a son Fils, publ. by Soc. des Bibliophiles^ 

Paris, 1825, and by M. Roesle, Munich, 1899. 

Another shorter French metrical version is published in the 

Barbazan-Meon collection. 
Gesta Romanorum,cd. Keller. Stuttgart, 18425 ed. Osterley. Ber- 
lin, 1871. 

(English), ed. Herrtage (E. E. T. S.). London, 1879. 
Le Violier des Histoires Romaines, ed. M. G. Brunet. Paris, 1858. 
K. Campbell, The Se-v en Sages {Y^n^ish). Boston, 1907. 

For bibliography of The Seven Sages see L. Chauvin, Biblio- 
graphie des Owvrages arabes, vol. viii, entire volume. Liege and 

Leipzig, 1897. 

Cf. also Catalogue of Romances in British Museum, vol. iii, 

by J. A. Herbert. London, 1910. 



llBibliograp]^^ 83 



III. DAME SIRIZ 

I. Editions of Dame Sirim 
I. Wright, Anecdota Literaria^ pp. 1-13. London, 1844. 
E. Matzner, Altengliiche Sprachproben, I, pp. 105-13, with 
an excellent introduction, pp. 103-4. Berlin, 1867. 

a. Besides the ivorks containing a general discussion of fabliaux there 
remain to be mentioned the folloijuing ivorks dealing especially 
ivith the ** Dame Siriz.*^ 
W. Elsner, Untersuchungen zudem mittelenglischen Fabliau *^Dame 

Siriiz,*' diss. Berlin, 1887. 
W. Heuser, Das Interludium *De Clerico et Puella,'' Anglia, xxx, 
306-19. 

3. Versions of the Weeping Bitch Story 
Kathd Sarit Sagara, transl. by C. H. Tawney, vol. i, pp. 85- 

91. Calcutta, 1880. 
fukasaptati (textus simplicior), transl. into German by R. Schmidt, 

pp. 9, 10. Kiel, 1894. 
fukasaptati (textus ornatior), transl. into German by R. Schmidt. 

Stuttgart, 1899. 
The Book of Sindibad (Oriental form of the Seven Sages). 

Syriac version. Sindban and the Seven Wise Masters, transl. 
by H. Gollancz, Folk-Lore, viii, 113 ff. 

Greek version. Syntipas, critical ed. by Eberhard, Fabulae ro- 
manenses graece conscriptae, i, 39. Leipzig, 1879. Summarized 
by Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, Sur les Fables indiennes,^^. 106-9. 
Paris, 1838. 

Persian version. Syndibad Nama, analysis by Prof. F. Falco;ier 
in Clouston's Book of Sindibad, p. 61. London, 1884. 

Hebrew version. Mischle Sindbad, transl. by P. Cassel, pp. 
268-71. Berlin, 1888. 

Arabic version. The Seven Va%irs, transl. by J. Scott in 
Clouston's Book of Sindibad, pp. 162 ff. 

For reference to other Arabic versions see Eisner, op. cit., p. 8. 
Spanish version. Coote's translation of comparative text of the 
Libro de los Enganos, 



84 llBibUograpl)^ 

Disciplina Clericalis, cf. references to editions above, no. xi. 

French prose translation (i 5th cent. ) of the Disciplina Cleri- 
calis (Soc. des Bibliophiles). Paris, 1825. 

Spanish translation from the Disciplina Clericalis, El libro de 
I OS Enxemplos {^Bibl. autores tspafioles^ li, p. 505). 

Icelandic translation from the Disciplina Clericalis, ed. by H. 
Gering, Islend%k ae'ventyri^ i, 181. Halle, 1882. 

English translation of the Disciplina Clericalis in an unpub- 
lished manuscript of the Worcester cathedral library. A rotogra- 
phic copy of this manuscript is in the library of the Western Re- 
serve University. 

French metrical versions of the Disciplina, see references above 
to versions of .L^ Chastoiement d'un Pere a son Fils. 
Steinhowel, ^sop, ed. Osterly {Bibl. d. lit. Vcr. Stuttg. 1 843), 
section Ex Adelfonso, no. il. 

The story is also included in the Italian fable collection by 
Tuppo, 1485, the French collection by Machaut, circa 1483, 
the Spanish Tsopo, 1496, the Dutch Esopus, i486, and the Eng- 
lish edition by Caxton, 1484 (ed. Jacobs, 1889). 
Gesta Romanorum, see references above. The Dame Sirix story 

does not appear in the English version. 
Alexander de Hales, Destructorium 'vitiorum, iii, X c. Colon, 
1485. Ref. from Eisner. 

Another edition. Pars tertia, capitulum 10, fol. ci, b. Lutetiae, 
1516. 
GoTSCALDUs HoLLEN, Preccptorium no'vum et perutiU, etc., fol. 

cxcv, c. Colon, 1484. 
Nicolas de Troys, Le Grand Parangon des Nowvelles NowvelUs^ 

II, fol. XXIX, b. Ref. from Eisner. 
P. Gringoire, Les Fantaisies de Mere Sotte. (Ms. in Bibl. Nat. at 

Paris. ) Ref. from Eisner. 
H. Sachs, Das ivainent Huentlein. {^Elf Fastnachtspiele aus den 

Jahren lSS3-iSS4t ^^&^- ^' E- Goetze. Halle, 1884.) 
loANNES GoBii, Scala celi, 1480. 

ViNCENTius Bellovacensis, BibHothcca Mundi, Section iii. Spe- 
culum Morale, Lib. in, Dist. vi. Pars ix, p. 1325, edition of 
1624 (Brit. Mus. Libr.). 

Late Latin version publ. by A. Tobler, Zt. f. rom. Phil, x, 
476-80. 



315ibUograpl^p 85 

JoH. Herolt, Discipulus redi'vi-vus seu Sermones discipuli, Section iv, 

Promptuarium Exemplorum^ no. 599. Augustae Vindelicorum, 

1728. 
Nicole Bozon, La Contes moralisesy ed. by L. T. Smith and P. 

Meyer {^Soc. des anc. Textes fran^.)^ 1889, no. 138. 
L, Desmoulins, Catholicon des mal ad'vhe% (ed. J. Petit et M. Lc 

Noir, 151 3, fol. Diiij). Ref. from ed. of N. Bozon. 
Jacc^ues de Vitry, Exempla, ccl. See ref. above. 

The same version is included in Wright's^ Selection of Latin 

Stories from Manuscripts of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Cent' 

uries (Percy Soc. 8). London, 1842. 
Metrical Tales of Adolf us^ ed. T. Wright (Percy Soc. 8), Fabula 

V. London, 1842. (Reprinted from Leyser, Historia Poetarum 

Medii Ae'vi 1^21^ p. 2015 ff., cf. Matzner, loc. cit.) 
Christiern Hansen, Komedier^ ed. S. Birket Smith, p. 60. Ref. 

from Eisner. Kjobenhavn, 1874. 

Prose paraphrase in Le Grand d*Aussy*s Fabliaux ou Contes^ 

IV, 50-3. Paris, 1829. 



IV. THE VOX AND THE WOLF 

I. Discussion of beast tales 

J. Grimm, Reinhart Fuchs. Berlin, 1834. 

W. J. Thoms, The History of Reynard the Fox, reprint of Caxton 

edition with discussion of the history of the story collection 

(Percy Soc. 12). London, 1844. 
Paulin Paris, Les Aventures de Maitre Renard et d' Tsengrin, son 

compere^ sui'vies de nowvelles recherches sur le Roman de Renart. 

Paris, 1 861. 
K. Krohn, Bar (Wolf) und Fuchs. Helsingfors, 1888. 
K. Krohn, Mann und Fuchs : drei -vergleichende Mdrchenttudien. 

Helsingfors, 1891. 
Fauriel, Roman de Renard, Hi stoire litter aire de la France, vol. 22. 
Potvin, Le Roman du Renard, mis en 'vers, precede d'une intro- 
duction ct d'une bibliographic. Paris and Brussels, 1861. 
C. Voretzsch, Der Reinhart Fuchs Heinrichs des Gliche%aren und 

der Roman de Renart, Zt. f rom. Phil., xv, 1 24-182, 344- 

374, xvi, 1-39. See especially p. 361. 



86 ilBibliograpl)^ 

H. BuTTNER, Studien zu dem Roman de Renart und dem Reinhart 

Fuchs. Strasburg, 1891. 
RoTHE, Les Romans du Renard examines^ analyses et compares, 

Paris, 1845. 
JoNCKBLOET, ^tude sur le Roman du Renart. Groningen, 1863. 
Leonard Willems, Etude sur /'Tsengrinus. Ghent, 1895. 
G. Paris, Le Roman de Renard. Paris, 1895. 
Reissenberger, Reinhart Fuchs. Halle, 1886. 
M. DE Gubernatis, La Mythologie zoologique, vol. 11. 
J. Jacobs, The Fables of Aesop. Vol. i, History of the Aesopic 

Fable. Vol. 11, Text and Glossary. London, 1889. 

For additional bibliographical references see V.Chauvin, op, cit,^ 

II, pp. 1 64 ff. 

2. Editions of collections of beast stories 

Meon, Le Roman du Renard public d^apres les Manuscrits de la Biblio' 
theque du Roi desxiiie^ xi've^ et x^e SiecleSj 4 vols. Paris, 1825. 
Chabaille, Supplements^ Variantes et Corrections. Paris, 1835. 

E. Martin, Le Roman de Renart, 3 vols. Paris, 1882-87. 

F. Wolf, Renart le Contrefait, nach der Handschrift derK. K. Hof- 
bibliothek. Vienna, 1861. 

HouDOY, Renart-le-Nowvel. Lille, 1874. 

Ecbasis cujusdam capti'vi, Lat. poem of nth cent. ed. by W. J. 
Thorns (Percy Soc. 12), 1844; ed. E. Voigt, ^ellen und 
Forschungen, no. viu. Strassburg, 1875. 

TsengrimuSf ed. by E. Voigt, 1884. 

H. der Glichezare, Reinhart Fuchs, ed. Grimm. Berlin, 1 8 34. 

Reinaert, transl. from Flemish into French by O. Delapierre. 
Brussels, 1857. 

Reineke der Fuchs (Volksbuch). Leipzig, 1840 (?). 

Goethe, Reinecke Fuchs, xi, w. 97-131. 

English versions of Renard the Fox : i) ed. Thorns (Percy Soc. 12), 
1844; 2) ed. Arber, 1878 ; 3) ed. Goldsmid, 1884; 4) mod- 
ernized version by H. Morley (Carisbrooke Library, iv), 1889. 

J.Jacobs, see above. 

L. Hervieux, Les Fabulistes Latins depuis le Siecle d^ August e 
jusqu'a la Fin du Moyen Age. 1st ed. Paris, 1884 ,• 2d ed. 1893. 



Bibliograpl)^ 87 

3. Editions of Vox and Wolf 

1. Wright and Halliwzll, Rd, Antiquae^ 11, 272. 

2. Percy Soc. viii, 1843. 

3. W, C. Hazlitt, Early Popular Poetry^ i, 58 f. 1 864. 

4. Matzner, Altengl. Sprachpr.^ i, 130. 

4. Analogues 
a. Oriental 

1. Arabic, ** Le renard et la hyene,** Meidani, Proverhes (6) , 
t. II, p. 7. V. Chauvin, Bihl. des Owvrages arabes, iii, p. 78, 
cites Maidani, Arahum pro'verhia^ 11, p. 335, no. 64, ed. Freytag. 
Bonn, 1837. 

2. Hebrew, A. Blumenthal, Rabbi Meir^ p. 100, also 10 1 fF. 
Frankfurt, 1888. 

3. Hebrew, J. Landsberger, Die Fabeln des SophoSj no. lO. 
Posen, 1859. 

4. Indian, Pantchatantra, i, 8j Hitapodesa, 11, II 5 Kirchhof's 
JVcndunmuthy 7, 26. 

5. Indian, Panic hatantra, 11, 226. 

6. Mod. Indian, M. Frere, Old Deccan Days. London, 1868. 

b. Versions related directly or indirectly to the ^^ Roman de Renard*^ 
Reinecke der Fuchs^ Volksbuch. Leipzig, 1840. 
J. Lassberg, Lieder Saalj 11, no. 93. Eppishausen, 1820. 
Grimm, Rein hart Fucks, i>^. 356—8. Berlin, 1834. 
John of Sheppey, see Hervieux, op. cit., iii, 441. 
Odo of Sherington, see Hervieux, op. cit., iii, 327. 

Italian fable, publ. by K. McKenzie, Publ. M. L. A. Amer.y 
XXI, 226 ff. 
"Libro de los Gatos, no. 14 [Bibl. autores espanoles, Li.). 
N. BozoN, Contes Moralises, no. 128. 

For bibliography of the Disciplina Clericalis and its transla- 
tions, see references above. 

c. Versions related to that in the * * Disciplina Clericalis * * 
G. Wright, The Principles of Grammar. London, 1794. 
B. Waldis, Esopus, ed. by H. Kurz. Leipzig, 1862. 



88 llBibliograp^^ 

Hans Sachs, Fabeln^ ed. Goetze. Frankfort, 1 888. 

R. Henryson, Poems and Fables, ed. by D. Laing, pp. 193— 202. 

Edinburgh, 1865. And Anglia, ix, p. 470. 
La Fontaine, Book xi. Fable 6. 
Marie de France, Le Grand d*Aus8y, Fabliaux ou Contes^ iv, 

p. 396. 

F. J. Desbillons, Fabulae Aesopiae, 5th ed., Book 8, Fable 24. 
Paris, 1769. 

Gelbhaus, Ueber Stoffe altdeutscher Poesie, P« 39* Berlin, 1886. 
El libro de los Exemplos^ no. cccvii. B'tbl, autores espanoles, li. 

P- 520. 

For editions of this story in fable collections see Steinhowel in 

bibliography of Dame Siriz. 

d. Other versions 
Verdizotti, Cento Favole. Venetia, 1570. 
San Bernardino da Siena, Nowvelette Esempi Morali e Apolo' 

ghiy p. 15, Racconto vi. Bologna, 1868. 
Fable Collection, publ. by J. Baechtold, Germania^ xxxiii, 257. 

G. K. Pfeffel, Fabeln, 4, 88. 

Jacc^ues Regnier, Apologi Phaedrii^ Pars i, Fab. 48. 

Other fables ivith beasts , usually fox and ivolf in a well 
L. Abstemius, Hecatomythion secundum, no. 15. 
L. Abstemius, Hecatomythion, no. 41. 
G. Faerno, Centum Fabulae, p. 49. London, 1672. 
R. L'EsTRANGE, Fables of Aesop . . . Fab. 410. London, 1692. 
S. Croxall, Fables of Aesop and others, no. 166. Boston, 

1863. 
Fables Turques, transl. into French by J. -A. Decourdemanche, 

no. 31, 
T. Bewick, Fables, 18 18. 
Lenoble, (Ewvres, XIV, 515. 

Carl Mouton, Esope-Esopus, no. 95, Hamburg, 1 750. 
Fables of Aesop ^ no. 8. New York, 1862, 

e. Folk-tale 'versions 
French (Bas-Languedoc). P. Redonnel, Rev. des trad. pop. iii, 
611, 612. 



French (Breton). L. F. Sauve, Rev. des trad. pop. i, 363, 364. 
German (Saxon). J. Haltrich, Deutsche Volhmdrchen^ no. 100. 

Vienna, 1877. 
French (Walloon). A. Gittee et J. Lemoine, Contes du Pays 

Wallofiy pp. 159-69. Paris, 1891. 
French (La Bresse). P. Sebillot, Conies du Pro'vinces de France. 
Spanish. Antonio de Trueba, Narraciones popu/aresy pp. 91 fF. 

Leipzig, 1875. 
Portuguese. Coelho, Contos populares portuguezes^ pp. 13-5. 

Lisbon, 1879. 
American Negro. J. C. Harris, Unc/e Remus : his Songs and Say^ 

ingSj no. 16. 

Additional bibliographical references may be found in Chau- 

vin's Bibliographie des Owvrages arabes, iii, pp. 78, 79, ix, pp. 

30, 31. 

V. SIR CLEGES 

I. Editions 

H. Weber, Metrical Romances , i, 329 ff. Edinburgh, 1810. 
A. Treichel, Englische Studien, xxii, 374 ff. 
J. L. Weston, Modern English rendering in 'volume ivith Libeaus 
Disconus. London, 19 — . 

2. Other 'versions of the story of ^ the bloivs shared* 

1. English : 

J. G. Saxe, The Nobleman^ the Fisherman^ and the Porter, 
An Italian legend. 

Gesta Romanorum (E. E. T. S.), no. 90. 

2. French : 

Tallemant des Reaux, Les Historiettes. , . . 
L. Moland, Moliere et la Comedie Italienne, pp. 375, 376, 
Nowveaux Contes a Rire, p. 186. Cologne, 1702. 
Voltaire, CEwvres Completes^ t. x, Preface de Catherine 
Vadiy p. 781. Ref. from M. Rene Basset. 

3. German : 

Graesse, Sagenkreise, p. 251. Ref. from Liebrecht-Dunlop. 



90 Bibliograpl)^ 

Grimm, KindermSrchen^ iii, p. 20, no. 7. 

Pauli, Schimpf und Ernst (ed. Osterley), no. 614. 

F. BoBERTAG, Narrcnbuch^ pp. 7-86. Berlin, 1885. 

F. H. VON DER Hagen, Narrenbuch, pp. 271-352. Halle, 
1811. 

F. W. Ebeling, Die Kalenberger. Berlin, 1890. 

A. Niederhoffer, Mecklenburg'' s ^olks-Sagen, iii, 196-9, 
Leipzig, 1859. 

Lyrum Larum Lyrissimum, no. 184. 1700. 

4. Latin : 

J. DE Bromyard, Summa Praedicantium, fol. clxiii, b. 
The same story is told in T. Wright's Latin Stories (Percy 
Soc), no. 127. 

Facetiarum Henrici Bebelii . . . Libri tres. Tubingen, 1 542. 

5. Greek : 

E. LzGRAifD, Recuei I de Contes Populaires Grecs. Paris, 188 1. 
(This story in its conclusion is unlike that in the Sir Cleges.) 

6. Spanish : 

Cuentos de Juan Aragonesy no. 3 in Tunoneda^ EI Sobremesa^ 
etc. Ref. from Liebrecht-Dunlop. 

Margerita Facetiarum Alfonsi Aragon^ p. 4 b. Argent. 
1508. 

7. Swedish : 

Backstrom, Svenske Volksbocker^ 2. Oefvers., p. 78, n. 30. 

8. Italian : 

Straparola, Piace-vole Notte, n. 7, Fav. 3. 

Marc. Monnier, Les Contes Populaires en Italie, La Nowvelle 
du Sommeil, pp. 236, 237. 

Nerucci, Sessanta no'velle populari montalesi^ n. 27, Lano'vella 
di sonnoy pp. 233-7. Florence, 1880. 

9. Turkish : 

Flogel, Geschichte der Hofnarren^ 176-8. 

10. Arabic: 

R. Basset. Contes et Legendes arabes, no. 57. Rev. des 
trad, pop., XIII, 675-7. 

R. Basset, Nowveaux Contes berbereSy Paris, 1 897. Other 
Arabic versions cited by M. Basset are : 

Kitab No%hat el Djallas, p. 23. 



Bibliographic 91 

Mas*oudi, Prairies d*or, t. viii, ch. cvxiii, p. 1 63. Re- 
produced by Ben Sedira, Cours dc Litter ature arahe^ 348, p. 32 ff. 
Found also in Lei Mille et unt Nuits, ed. Beyrout, t. iii, p. 176 ; 
ed. guaire, t. 11, p. 206. 

3. Related stories 

Les ^atre Souhaits Saint-Martin. The different versions are 
discussed by Bedier, op. cit., pp. 212-28. 

Lucky they are not Peaches. W. A. Clouston, Popular Tales and 
Fictions f vol. 11, 467 ff. This tale is closely associated with the 
one in Sir Cleges. 

Fable of A-varicious and Envious. See notes by Jacobs in his 
edition of Aesop's Fables. 

Du Vilain au Buffet, Montaiglon-Reynaud, iii, Fab. 80. 

4. Other stories having points of resemblance to that in ** Sir Cleggi *' 

The ballad of Hind Etin. Child, Ballads. 

N. BozoN, Contes Moralises, no. 112. 

Adventures of Oivleglass, no. 39. 

P. Sebillot, Contes des Provinces de France. Les jfacqueus a 
la Cour. 

Del Convoiteus et de P Envieus (Montaiglon-Raynaud, v, 
21 1-4). 

Latin Gesta Romanorum, ed. Osterley, cap. 73. 



(BlojSjSat:^ 



ABBREVIATIONS 

S = Dame Siriz. C = Sir Cleges. V = Vox and Wolf. 
N. E. D. = New English Dictionary. 



A, interj. : S 365, V 172, 
C 109. O.E. a. 



prep. 



tn: 



V 36. O.E. 



an, on. 
abide, v. tr., njuait for: im- 

per. 2 sg., abid, S 293. 

O.E. abidan. 
abite, v. tr. , to bite : pret. 

part. , abiten : bitterly tast- 
ed y V 203. O.E. abitan. 
aboue, adv., abo've: S413. 

O.E. abufan on bufan. 
aboute, adv., about : S 80, 

C 277 5 abouten, V 15. 

O.E. a-butan. 
abugge, V. tr., atone for: 

inf., V 208. O.E. abyc- 

gan. 
ac, conj., but : V 59, 84, 

106. O.E. ac. 
acorde, v., to agree njoith : 

pret. part., a-corde, C 

368. O.F. acorder. 
acoursed, pret. part., ac- 



cursed: V 55. O.E. cur- 
sian -j- prefix a. 

a-do, n., to do, affair, busi- 
ness: C 527. M.E. at do, 
a Northern form. 

adoun, adv., donjon: V 38, 
5 7, etc. , C 1 8 8 j doun, 
V 247 5 done, C 975 
doune, C 452. O.E. of 
dune. 

aduersarys, n. pL, adver- 
saries : C 431. O. F. 
aversaire (aversier, adver- 
sier). 

afalle, v., to fall do^wn: 
pret, part., afalle, V18. 
O.E. afeallan. 

a-ferd, adj., afraid: C 220. 
O.E. af^red. 

afingret (see hoffurst), 
pret. part., ahungered: V 
2, 4, no, 190, 258, etc. 
O.E. ofhyngrod, ofhin- 
grod, p. p. 



94 



€iloggar^ 



after, prep., after ^ fori 

V 6i, C i6i, 246, 448, 
5235 affter, S 197, 4125 
concerning^ ^ 5 ^ > accord- 
ing to ^ S 53, C 240. O.E. 
aefter. 

after, adv., afterijoard : C 
151,211, 383, 389,454. 
O.E. aefter. 

after-werd, adv. : C 270, 
463, 548; aftyr-werd, C 
472. O.E. asfterweard. 

ageyn, adv., again, back-. 
C 175, 3185 a^ein, S 296. 
O.E. ongean. 

a-^ene, prep., against, on 
account of. C. 135. O.E. 
ongean. 

a-go, pret. part.,^o«^: V49; 
ago, V 153. O. E. agan. 

agrise, v. intr., infin., be 
alarmed, frightened : V 
240. O.E. agrisan. 

Ailmer, pr. n. : V 271. 

al, adj., all'. S 49, 134, 
153, etc., V II I, 200, 
etc.; all, C 11, 14, 29, 
no, 276, 430, etc. ; alle, 

V 63, 147, 156. O.E. 
eall. 

al, adv.: S 151, V 17; all, 

C 68, etc. 
al, pron. : S 63, 146; all, 

C 56, etc. 



alas, interj. : S 333. O.F. 

a las, ha las. 
al-hone, adv., cf. a-lone. 
aliue, adj., aliuei V 183. 

O.E. on life. 
allegate, adv., in enjery 

ivay: S 398. Cf. O.N. 

allagotu. Not cited earlier 

than 1200. See N. E.D. 
all-thyng, n., everything : 

C 305. O.E. ealle Wng 

(pi-)- 

all-wey, adv., in any casei 
C 228. 

almes, n., alms, charity: 
gen. sg. almes, V 44. 
O.E. aelmysse. 

almes-dede, n., almsdeed^ 
almsgiving'. S 207. 

almi^tten, adj.. Almighty, 
n. sg., S 25, 322, 3715 
all-my^ht, C 66 -, all- 
my^ht, C 539. O.E. ael- 
miht, adj. ; aelmeahtig, 
adj. 

almus-folke, n., almsgiv- 
ers'. C 31. Earliest in- 
stance of this sense cited 
by N.E.D. is 1709. 

alon, adv., belonging(J): S 
10. O.E. [andlang] ge- 
lang. 

a-lone, adv., alone: C 1865 
al-hone, V 275. 



^lofiffifar^ 



95 



alpi, adj., single: V 132. 
O. E. anlipig, senlipig, 
etc. 

als, also, al so: see as. 

also, conj., also : C 477 5 
all-so, C 414. O.E. eal- 
swa. 

amend, v. tr., amend: im- 
per. 2 sg., S 113. O.F. 
amender. 

amidde, prep., *in middle 
of,' <half way down': 
V241. O.E. on middan. 

amidward, adv., in the 
middle of: V 274. 

among, adv., among : V 
266. O.E. onmang. 

among, prep. : C 326, 446, 
515. O.E. onmang. 

and, conj., and: S 3, 5, 
etc., V 18, 19, etc., C i, 
3, etc.; //, S 164, 363, 
C 300, 350, 524; and 
if =z= //J S 168, 392, 
394; a, scribal error for 
and, S 361 ; an, S 140, 
1455 on = *and,' S 240, 
see Notes; and = *by' 
in the phrase, on and on, 
V 197, 269. O.E. and, 
ond. In conditional sense, 
possibly from O.N. enda. 
%ttN.E,D, 

angry, adj., i^^^ry: C 303; 



angary, C 442 ; fr. anger, 
n. [O.N. angr]4-y, adj. 
ending. 

ani, adj., any: S 15, 41, 
etc.; eni, S 363, 373, 
etc. ; any, C 117, 119, 
205, etc. O.E. aenig. 

anon, adv., at once: S 155, 
C 320, 401, 404; pres- 
ently, C 3 9 8 . O. E. on an. 

anon-ryght, adv., right 
a^way: C 531, 541. 

anou^, see I nou. 

anoundred (an -{- hun- 
dred), V 8. 

ansine, n., longing, desire j 
njoant: S 306. O.E. sin, 
syn, f. sight + prefix an-, 
see N,E,D, 

ansuerd, v., pret. 3 sg., 
ansnjoered: C 433. O.E. 
andswarian. 

ansytourres, n., ancestors: 
C 2. O.F. ancestre. 

any, see ani. 

apayd, pret. part., pleased: 
C 485. O. F. a payer, 
apaier. 

aperseiuede, v., pret. i sg., 
perceiued, observed : V 
213, O.F. apercevelr. 

aquenche, v., inf. transf., 
appease : V 13, 112. 
O.E. acwencan. 



96 



&\o!(&m 



SLTf prep., ere, before-, S 
1 08; conj., before, S 381. 
See er. 

aray, n., array, dress-, C 
261. O. F. aret, arroi, ar- 



roy, 



etc. 



a-ray, v., infin., array, 

dress: C 543. O. F. ar- 

(r)eier, areer, arreer, ar- 

(r)oier, etc. 
arise, arisen, v., arise: in- 
fin., V 239, 2645 imper. 

3 pi., arise>, V 269. O.E. 

arisan. 
arme, n., arm: C 477 ; pi., 

armys, C 123. O.E. earm. 
(Kyng) Artour, pr. n., gen. 

sg., C 5. 
as, conj.: S I, C 21, 97, 

137, etc.; al so, S 267; 

al-so, V 2 1 7 ; als, C 1 2 1 ; 

als . . . as, C 141, 206, 

339 5 also . . . as, S 95. 

O.E. ealswa. 
ascape, v., infin., escape: 

S 370. O.F. escaper. 
aske, v., pres. i sg., ask, 

request: C 428. O.E. ac- 

sian. See axe. 
askyng, n., asking, request, 

boon: C 344, 357, 362, 

506. O.E. acsung. 
assent, v., pres. i sg., 

agree, consent : C 145, 



sente, C 289. O.F. as* 

(s) enter, 
assunder, adv., asunder: 

S 360. O.E. on sundran. 
at, prep.: S 141, etc., V 

21, etc., C 8, etc. ; by, 

C 284. O.E. aet. 
afurst, adj., thirsty: V Sd-, 

hof>>urst, V 274. O.E. 

of J>yrst, p. p. of * of ]?yr- 

stan.' Cf. afingret, p. p. 
a-two, adv., i« /TX70: C476. 

O.E. on tu, on tv^a. 
a-vayle, v., infin., a<vail, 

help: C 396. Not in O. 

Fr. 5 first quoted from 

Cursor Mundi. 
auenture, n., adventure : 

V 70. O.F. aventure. 
awai, adv., a^juay: S 149, 

437 5 wei, V 53; away, 

S 1 7 ; a-w^ay, C 6 8 j a- wey, 

C 74, 80, 150, etc. O.E. 

onv^eg. 
awarie, v. ,subj. 3 sg.,curse', 

S 332. O.E. awergian. 
awecche, v., infin., anjoak- 

en: V 267. O.E. aw^ec- 

c(e)an. 
awne, adj., oivn: C 389, 

440, 534. O.E. agen. 
awreke, pret. part., 

avenged: V 64. O. E. 

awrecan. 



&iogi3m 



97 



axe, v., pres. i sg., ask: 

V 52. See aske. 

ay, adv., ^i;^r: S 304, C 
73. O.N. ei, ey. 

bad, bade, v., pret. 3 sg., 

bade, see bidde. 
bake, n., back: C 245, 359. 

O.E. base, 
bare, adj. : C17. O.E. baer. 
be, ben, v., infin., be, S 

46, C 26, 44, 136, 202, 

etc.; ben, S99, 247,295, 

V 105, 118, 162, etc.; 
pres. I sg., am, S 162, 
etc., V 103; ame, C 220, 
408; be, C 423; pres. 2 
sg., art, S 117, 167, V 
130, etc.; arte, C 535; 
hertou (art -|- thou), V 
120 5 bes. art, S 444; 
pres. 3 sg., is, S 33, 
etc., V 127, etc., C217; 
his, S 28, 142; hiis, 

V 106; pres. 3 pL, be]?, 

V 49j i53> 166, etc.; 
be, C 309 ; is, C 48 ; 
pres. subj., i sg., be, C 
308; 2 sg., be, S 296; 3 
sg., be, S 25, 226, C 
288 ; 2 pi., be, C 134 ; 
pret. I sg. , was, C 1 1 2 j 
2 sg., were, V 60, 219, 
C 330; 3 sg., wes (usual 



in S & V) ; was, S 76, 
C 49, 68, etc. ; ves, S 79, 

V 258 ; wes him (reflex- 
ive), V 31, 261 ; pret. 
I pi., weren, V 64, 3 pL, 
weren, V 28, 40, 289; 
were, C 2, 31, 168, 453 ; 
wer, C 17, 35, 51, etc.; 
pret. subj., 3 sg., were, S 
246, 336, V 43, 218 ; 
wer, C 502; I pi. , weren, 

V 64; 3 pi., weren, V 204; 
were, C 70 ; pret. part., 
ben, S 68, V 185, 200, 
etc. ; iben, V 87, I-ben, 

V 100; be, C437. O.E. 
beon, wesan. 

be, prep., bj: C 58, 133, 

171, 265, etc.; according 

tOy C 525. See bi, by. 
be-cause, conj., C 221. 

M.E. hybrid compound. 

O.E. be+O.F. cause, 
bedde, n., bed: S 102, V 

214, 216, etc. ; bede, C 

161. O.E. bedd. 
bede, v. tr., offer, announce: 

infin., bede, S 40; pres. i 

sg., bede, S 129, 130; 3 

sg., bede}?, S 374; pres. 

subj. 3 sg., bede, S 363; 

pret. 3 sg., beed, S 349; 

bed, S 367. O.E. beo- 

dan. 



98 



&\o6&m 



befel, v., pret. 3 sg., be- 
felly happened: S 16. 
O.E. befeallan, 

be-for, prep.: C 183, 403; 
be-fore, C 2, 372; be- 
fome, C399. O.E. befor- 
an, bifora, befora (hind), 
etc. 

began, see biginne. 

begers, n., beggars: poss. 
pL,C267. O.F. begard. 

be-hold, v., see, behold: in- 
fin., C 279; pres. imper. 
2 sg., C 2765 biheld, 
pret. 3 sg., V 15. O.E. 
bihaldanj W. S. beheal- 
dan. 

be-hynd, adv., behind: C 
46. O.E. behindan. 

belle, n., belly (in oath = 
O.F. ventre bleu (dieu) 
quoted by Matzner) 
scarcely as in Wright = 
tunic or = beJl (?) : S 390, 
421. 

be-lyue, adv., quickly, at 
once: C 1395 blyue, C 
152; bliue, V 109. M.E. 
comp. bi-life, etc. See 
bliue. 

benedicite, n., blessing : 
benedicite be herinne = 
* God save us,' S 193. 
Lat. benedicite. 



bere, v., bear: infin., C 

55 1 5 imper. 2 sg.,C 245; 

bore, p. p., V 116; born, 

p. p., C 387. O. E. 

beran. 
beryes, n., berries : pi., C 

201, 203. O.E. berie. 
bes, v., pres. 2 sg. = O.E. 

bis, bist (Orrm. best, 

etc.) : thou arty S 444. 

See be, ben. 
best, adj.: C 142, 159, 212. 

O.E. bet(e)st. 
be-syde, adv., beside: C 

187 j by . . . syde, C 87. 

O.E. be sidan. 
bete, v., remedy : infin., V 

276. O.E. betan. 
bete, v., beat: infin., V 

290, C 20, 298. O.E. 

beatan. 
beter, adj., better : S 274, 

C 236; betere, S 3895 

better, C 26, 147. O.E. 

betera, bet. 
be-thought, v., reflex., 

seemed : pret. 3 sg., C 90; 

reflected, pret. 3 sg., C 

349. O.E. bi)?encan. 
bey, v., pret. 3 sg., boived; 

V 194. O. E. bugan, 

beah, bugon, bogen. 
bi, prep., along: S i, 745 in 

oaths, S 31,895 concern- 



^Jlofisar^ 



99 



ingy S 143, V 210} ac- 
cording to, S 253, 405, 
V 50 j beside, S 383. O. 
E. bi. See be. 

bicharde, v., pret. 3 sg. , 
decei'vedy beguiled : V 2 9 3 . 
O.E. becerran. 

biche, n., bitch: S 3545 
bicche, S 372. O. E. 
bicce. 

biconi) v., become: S 376. 
O.E. becuman. 

bidde, v., pray, bidy com- 
mand , in'vite: infin., V 
179; pres. I sg., bidde, 
S 209; pret. I sg., bad, 
S 3995 3 sg., bade, C 
39 8} pret. part., I-bede, V 
i35» ^55; bede, C 330. 
Results from confusion of 
two distinct words, O.E. 
biddany <pray,' and beo- 
dany 'offer,' 'com- 
mand.' 

biden, v., bidey li^ve to : S 
ii6j pres. I sg., bide, S 
26, 133, 433. O.E. bi- 
dan. See abide. 

biginne, v., begin: pres. 3 
sg., biginne)?, V 80; pret. 
3 sg., bigon, S 7, 24, 
302, 3535 bigan, V 107; 
bigon to = 'did' (?), S 
*97, 417, 4^0; pret. 3 



pL, be-gan, C 58} pret. 
part., bigunne, S 384. O. 
E. beginnan. 

bi-go, v., pres. subj. 3 sg., 
encompassy take possession 
o/':V53. O.E. began. 

bi-^ende, prep., beyond: S 
105. O.E. begeondan. 

bi^ete, n., gettingy earn- 
ings y spoil (Matzner): V 
248. Not cited in O.E. 
Formed from O.E. verb, 
begitan. See N.E.D. 

biheld, pret., see be-hold. 

bihete, \,y promise: pres. i 
sg.,S428. O.E.behatan. 

bileue, v., lea^^ey remain: 
pres. subj. 3 sg., bileue, V 
1985 imper. 2 sg., bilef, 
lea^ey S 217. O.E. be- 
Isefan. 

bimelde, v., pres. subj. 2 
sg., betray: S 38. M.E. 
compound from O.E. 
bi, prep. + meldian. 

bind, v., bind: pres. 3 pi., V 
2545 pret. part, (harde), I- 
bonden = 'hard pressed,' 
S 204. O.E. bindan. See 
hounbinde. 

binefe, adv., beneath: V 
253. O.E. binij?an, be- 
neo]?an. 

binomen, binome, pret. 



100 



^lossm 



part., taken auoay. S 
^95> V 173- O.E. beni- 
man. 

bireued, V. tr., pret. part., 
taken from-. S 336. O.E. 
bereafian. 

biset, v., invested', pret. 
part., S 274. O.E. beset- 
tan. 

bi-fenche, v. reflex., he- 
think oneself y reflect-. In- 
fin., V 83; pret. 3 sg., 
bI>oute, 8135 pret. part. , 
bi>out, V 81. O. E. bi- 
^encan. 

bitide, v., happen, betide : 
infin., S 124. M.E. com- 
pound, bi, prep. -\- O.E. 
tidan. 

bi-wonne, pret. part., njuon-. 
S381. M.E. compound, 
bi, prep. -(- O. E. win- 
nan. 

blame, n., charge, blame : 
S198, 393> C 529. O.F. 
blame, 

blame, v., blame: infin., S 
56. O. F. blamer, blas- 
mer. 

bled, v., bleed: infin., C 
336. O.E. bledan. 

blesse, v., bless: infin., S 
258; opt. 2 sg., blesse 
(be), * God bless you, S 



201 j opt. 3 sg., I-blessi, 
S 161. O.E. bletsian. 

ble}?eli, adv., gladly: S 35; 
bleWiche, V 171. De- 
rived from O. N. blea}>, 
'v^^eak,' « gentle,' <kind,' 
but influenced in meaning 
byO.E.bli^e. SeeA'.^.A 

blisse, n., bliss: V 140, 
144, 294. O.E. bli'Ss. 

blij?, adj., glad: S 259; 
bli>e, V 2495 blythe, C 
1405 blyth, C 151. O.E. 
blij^e. 

bliue, cf. be-lyue, adv. 

blod, n., blood: V 40, 515 
dat., blode, C 60. O.E. 
blod. 

bloke, n,, block: C 452. 
O.F. bloc. 

blome, n., bloom: S 294. 
O.N. blom. 

body, n., body: C 299. O. 
E. bodig. 

boinard, n., fool, kna^ei 
S 288. O.F. buinard. 

boke, n., book: C 248. O. 
E. boc. 

boket, n., bucket: V 78, 
80, 88, 2325 boketes, V 
73. O.F. buket (?). 

bold, adj., assured^ certain: 
S 54; bolde, C 331. O. 
E. beald. 



&\06&m 



lOI 



boldly, adv., C 328. O.E. 

bealdlice. 
bond, adj., bond, enslaved-, 

C 114. O.E. bonda, n. 
bone, n., request, boon: S 

375. O.N. bon, corr. to 

O.E. ben. 
bone, n., bone: C 476 5 

pi. bones, V 63. O.E. 

ban. 
bore, p. p., see bere, v. 
bote, prep., but, besides: S 

137, V 39, 164, 254; 

bot, C 69, 75, 83, 428. 

O.E. butan. 
bote, conj., but: S 38, 415 

bot, C 2 5 1 , 3205 bote, 

unless, S 234, V 43, 193; 

bot, C 286, 316} bote if, 

unless, S 181} bot if, C 

3 44, 353; bote l^at, unless, 

S 400. O.E. butan. 
bote, n., remedy: C 361. 

O.E. bot. 
both, adv., C 32, 51, 65, 

114, 140; bothe, C 3, 

31 J boJ?e, S 121, 150, V 

1675 bo>, S 86 j bot?en, 

V 26. O.N. ba'Sar. 
boJ?e, pron., both: C 31. 

O.N. ba'Sar, m., ba^ir, 

f., bae^i, ba'Si, n. 
Botolfston, pr. n., Boston: 

S 77. 



boue, prep., abo^e: S 90. 
O.E. bufan. 

bow^e, n., bough: C 196, 
1995 bow, C 214. O.E. 
bog. 

bred, n., bread: S 327. O. 
E. bread. 

breke, v., break: infin., C 
266} pret. 3 sg., breke, 
S 356 } brake, C 476. 
O.E. brecan. 

brest, n., breast: V 194. 
O.E. breost. 

bringen, v., bring: infin., 
S 189, 404 5 bringe, V 
126; pres. subj., 2 sg., 
bringe, S 4005 pres. im- 
per. 2sg.,bryng, C 3995 
pret. 3 sg., broute, S 92, 
V 104, 2595 brohute, V 
705 brow^t, C274; broujt, 

C 304, 3 34, 400, 4035 
brought, C 2 1 6 } pret. part. , 
I-brout, S 244, 424, V 8 2, 
122. O.E. bringan. 

brofer, n., brother: S 135. 
O.E. bro'Sor. 

brouke, v., use, enjoy: pres. 
I sg., S 273. O.E. bru- 
can. 

bryght, adj., bright: C 388. 
O.E. beorht. 

bruche, w.,, breach, opening: 
V21, 233. O.E. bryce. 



102 



€>logsar^ 



buggen, v., buy. S 272,- 

pret. part., bought, C 283, 

335. O.E. bycgan. 
burste, v., burst-, pret. subj. 

3 sg., S 360. O.E. ber- 

stan. 
bur}?, V. impers., behoonjesi 

pres. 3 sg., S 82. O.E. 

byrian. 
buske,v. ,/<? thrash yhustle{?) 

boxQ) : mfm.yC zo. Du. 

boxen j L. G. baksen, 

baaksen. 
by, see bi, prep. 

callyd, v., called : pret. 3 

pi., C 494, 533. O.E. 

ceallian. 
can, see con. 
cardyfF, pr. n. : C 87, 233, 

^39> 544} cardyfe, C 

254. 
care, n., care, anxiety: C 

148. O.E. cearu. 
carrals, n., carols: pi., C 

103. O.F. Carole. 
cast ell, n., castle: C 544. 

Late O.E. castel,fr. O.N. 

F. castel. 
castell-^ate, n., castle gate: 

C 256. 
cellerer, n., cellarer: V 59. 

Anglo-Fr. celererj O.F. 

celerier. 



certes, adv., certainly: S 
61, 139. O.F. certes. 

chapitre, n., chapter ^ ec- 
clesiastical court: S 244. 
O.F. chapitre. 

chary te, n., charity : C 
432. O.F. charitet. 

chauntecler, pr. n. : V 37, 
46. 

cheken, n., cheeks: pi., S 
358. O.E. ceace. 

chere, n., cheer , look, ex- 
pression: C30, 124, 147, 
156, etc. O.F. chere. 

cherle, n., churl: C 331J 
chorle, C 296. O. E. 
ceorl. 

chery, n., cherry: C 211; 
pL, cherys, C 279, 311, 
374, etc. O.N.F. cherise. 

cheryd, v., cheered: pret. 3 
pL, C 33. P^om chere, 
n. ; O.F. chere, chiere. 

chery-tre, n., cherry tree: 
C 194. M.E. compound, 
but cf. O.E. cyrstreow. 
Cf. N.E.D. 

ches, v., choose: infin., C 
427. O.E. ceosan. 

chesyn, n., cause: be che- 
syn of = because of, Ciji. 
O.F. acheson, acheisonj 
Lat. occasionem. 

childe, n., child: dat., V 



&\o&&m 



103 



228 J pi., children, V 
116, 155 j chylder, C 83, 
160, 167, 173, etc. O.E. 
cild. 

chorle, see cherle. 

chyrche, n., church : dat., 
C 163. O.E. cyrlce. 

clarc, n., clerk-. S 348, 366, 
380, 387 j clerc, S 353, 
363? 373 5 pl-> clarkes, S 
248. O.K. clerc. 

(dame) Clarys, pr. n. : C 

28, 55I) 557- 
(sir) Clegys, pr. n. : C 7, 
37 ; sir cleges, C 259, 
271,295, 301, 322, 328, 
382, 439» 533 5 cleges, 
C 145, 403, 494 ; syr 
clegys, C 238, 247 5 syr 
cleges, C 86, 89, 169, 
253, 289, 319, 349, 361, 

373,445,478,483, 5055 

syr , C 466. 

dene, adj., pure-. V 227, 

250, C 211 5 klene, V 

178. O.E. clsene. 
clere, adj., deary bright'. C 

374, 557, 575- ^.F. 

cler. 
closed, v., clothed', pret. 

part., S 6 5 I-clol>ed, S 

319. O.E. claSian. 
clothes, n., clothes'. C 332. 

O.E. clatSas. 



clothyng, v. n., clothing-, 
C 260. 

cloute, v., clout ^ heat', in- 
fin., C 270. O.E.^ clu- 
tian, of which only the 
pret. part., geclutod, sur- 
vives. 

cnowe, v., kno^w. infin., S 
122. O.E. cnawan. 

cnul, n., y^«^// : V 251. See 
soule-cnul. 

cold, n.ycold'. S 3125 adj., V 
2545 colde, V 255. O.E. 
ceald, adj. 

coler, n., collar: C 554. 
O.K. colier. 

comandyd, v., command- 
ed', pret. 3 sg., C 382. 
O.E. comander. 

come, n., coming'. S 108, 
V 134. O.E. cyme. 

comen, v., come: infin., co- 
men, V 136, 180, 230, 
235, etc.; kome, V 174; 
com, C 2 3 , 511; come, C 
330; cum, C 3435 pres. 
2 sg., commys, C 284; 
comyst, C 3 1 4, 318; pres. 
imper. 2 sg., com, S 22, 
28, V 37; 3 pL, komel?, V 
270; pres. part., comyng, 
C 224 ; pret. I sg., com, 
S 1 , 64, 1 80 ; 2 sg. , come, 
S 262J 3 sg., com, S 



104 



e\o&&m 



22, etc., C 122, l8l, 

295 j come, V 17 5 come 
hire, S 299 ; pret. 3 pi., 
comen, V 287; com, C 
115, 2565 pret. part., I- 
com, S 1625 I-comen, V 
59 5 comen, S 296. O.E. 
cuman. 

comener, n., commoner: C 
65. M.E. formation from 
O.F. comun. 

comforth, v., comfort: pres. 
3 sg., C 149. O.F. cun- 
fort, confort. 

commyng, v. n., coming: 
C 280. 

con, v., kno^Wy kno^w honjOy 
can : pres. i sg., con, S 
47, 65, 206, 450 5 cone, 
S 168 ; 2 sg., const, S 
285; can, C 490 ; 3 sg., 
can, V 97 5 pret. 2 sg., 
cou)?est, S 188, 2205 pret. 
3 sg., coulee, C 208 } 
pret. subj. 3 sg., kou)?e, 
V 184. O.E. can, con, 
cu'Se. 

conseyle, n., advice : C 
393. O.F. conseil. 

content, adj., contented^ 
satisfied y glad : C 395, 
564. O.F. content. 

contre, n., country: C 43. 
O.F. contree. 



coppe, n., cup : S 329 5 

cowpe, C 550. O.E. 

cnppe. 
Corne-weyle, pr. n. : C 

387. 
cost, n., cost: C 120. O.F. 

cost, 
couenant, n., covenant: C 

480 ; couenand, C 435. 

O.F. co(n)venant. 
coufe, couJ?est, see con. 
crafftes, n., crafts : pL, 

S 190. O.E. craeft. 
craue, v., ask: infin. , S 

352. O.E. crafian. 
crede, n., creed: S 209. 

O.E. creda. 
Crist, pr. n., Christ: S 332, 

etc. 5 cryst, C 522; gen., 

crystes, C 133. 
Cristine, adj.. Christian*, 

V 120. Anglo-Fr. Cris- 

tien. 
croune, n., tonsure: S 348. 

Anglo-Fr. coroune. 
Crystenmes, pr. n. : C 

^5> 2,55 ,• crystyn-mes, 

C 38. Late O.E. crystes 

maesse. 
cunne, n., kind: nom. sg., 

kun, V 123; kunne, V 

545 kynne, C 569 5 gen. 

sg., kunnes, V 146, 224, 

294; cunnes, S 15 5 nom. 



&l066Rt^ 



10 s 



pl.(?), cunne, V i66. O. 
E. cynn. 

cursede, v., pret. 3 sg., 
cursed : V 259. O. E. 
cursian. 

curtasly, adv., courteously. 
C 507. 

curteis, adj., ivell-man- 
neredy courteous: S 119, 
341 ; curtas, C 13, 570. 
O.F. corteis. 

curteisi, n., courtesy, man- 
ners : S 1 1 o 5 curtasse, C 
455. O.F. cortesie. 

curtiler, n., gardener: V 
272. O.F. cortiller. 

dai, n., day. S. 150, 208, 
345 5 day, S 16 5 dey, C 
30, 39> i35> 158, 232; 
pi., dales, V 48, 152 j 
dayes, V 49; daus, S 324 j 
lif-daie, V 200. O. E. 
daeg, dagas. 

dame, n., lady. S 37, 61, 
etc. , C 217; dame clarys, 
C 28, 557 5 dam clarys, 
551. O.F. dame. 

dansyng, v. n., dancing-. 
C 104. 

dar, v., = J>ar, etc., pres. 
2 sg., needest: S 260. 
O.E. Karf. 

ded, adj., dead: S J09, V 



149, 191 ; dede, C 500. 

O.E. dead. 
dede, n., deed, thing: S 41, 

V 223. O.E. d^d. 
dede, v., see do- 
del, n., lament, grief: S 

344, 356. O.F. doel. 
dele, v., divide, gi^e : in- 

fin.,C5i5. O.E. dselan. 
deley, n., delay : C 264. 

O.F. delei. 
deleyd, v., delayed: pret. 

part., C441. O.F. de- 
layer. 
depe, adj., deep: V 109. 

O.E. deop. 
dere, adj., dean C 202, 

O.E. deore. 
dere, adv., dearly: C 283, 

335. O.E. deore. 
derne, adj., secret: S 130. 

O.E. derne, dierne. 
dernelike, adv., secretly, 

S 86. 
desesyd, v., troubled, af- 
flicted: pret. part., C 191. 

O.F. desaaisier. 
dettys, n., debts: pL, C 

562. O.F. dette. 
deuel, n., deuil: V 104, 

282. O.E. deofol. 
dey, see dai. 
dey-lyght, n., daylight: C 

241. 



io6 



^loggar^ 



deyntes, n., dainties: pi., 
C 413. O.F. deyntee. 

do, don, done, v., do, cause 
to, gi've, put: infin., do, 
cause, S 126, cause to, 

V 251 5 don, do, S 32, 35, 
53 ; done, do, V 236 j 
pres. I sg., do, cause to, 

V 5 1 } 2 sg. , dest, dost, 

V 3 3> 35> 152 5 dost, S 
377 > 3 sg., do, C 232 5 
3 pi., do]>, do, V 217 ; 
pres. subj. 2 sg., do,^/^^, 

V 192 5 3 sg., do,^r^«/, 
S 322, 330 ; pret. 3 sg., 
dede, caused, V 67 5 
dyde, did, C 573 5 pret. 
3 pl-> dyd, ^/^, C 574} 
dyde, did, C 1 60 5 pret. 
subj. I sg., dude, S 172 j 
pret. part., I-don, V 106, 
put, S 323 5 don, done, 
S 226, V 39, C 49, com- 
pleted, C 1 7 8 5 do, done, 

V 68, made, C 41 1 5 I-do, 
done, V 222. O.E. don. 

done, adv., donjun: C 97. 
See adown. 

dore, n., door: S 301, V 27, 
C 293. O.E. duru. 

dou, n., dough', V 256. 
O.E. dah. 

dou3tyer, adj., more dough- 
ty, compar., C 8. Late 



O.E. dohtig, for earlier, 

dyhtig, dihtig. 
doun, n., douun: V 247 ; 

doune, C452. Seeadoun. 
doute, n., doubt, fear: C 

273. O.F. doute. 
douter, n., daughter : S 

339, etc. O.E. dohtor. 
draw, v., dranju: pres. subj. 

2 sg. , draw, C 2 6 8 j pret. 

3 sg., drew, C 88 j drou, 

V 277. O.E. dragan. 
dred, adj., afraid: S 409. 

Apheticjorm from M.E. 
adrad, O.E. of dr2ed(d). 

drede, n., dread, fear: 
dat., V 89. M.E. noun 
from O.E. verb drsedan. 

dreri-mod, adj., sad in 
heart: S 149. M.E. com- 
pound, O. E. dreorig + 
mod. 

dri3tte, n.. Lord: S 408. 
O.E. dryhten. 

drinke, v., drink: infin., 

V 795 pret. 3 sg., dronk, 

V 93. O.E. drincan. 
drinke, n., drink: S 133, 

V 143 5 drunche, V 14 ; 
pl.,drynkes, C 118. O.E. 
drinc, str. m. , drinca, w. m. 

driuen, pret. part., dri'venx 

S 247. O.E. drifan. 
drou, see draw. 



€*lo00ar^ 



107 



drunche, see drinke. 
drofe, v., dro've-. pret. 3 

pL, C 158. O.E. drifan. 
dude, see do. 
duell, v., dnjoell; infin., C 

82 5 pret. 3 pL, duellyd, 

C 87. O.E. dwellan. 
duntes, n., blo^ws, strokes: 

pL, V 295 5 dyntes, C 

444. O.E. dynt. 
dyde, v., see do. 
dyght, pret. part., made 

ready : C 242, 257 ; 

dy^ht, C 168, 540. O.E. 

dihtan. 
dy3ed, dyed, v., died-, pret. 

3 sg., C 57, 306. Early 

M.E. de^en. O.N. deyja. 
dyntes, see duntes. 
dyuerse, adj., diners, dif- 
ferent kinds of \ C 99. 

O.F. divers(e). 

eddre, n., njein : V 45, 
heddre,V43", O.E. aedre. 

ede, v., njuent: pret. 3 sg., 
V69J hede, S 347, 380, 
V 2 7 5. O.E. code, see go, 
gon. 

efft-sones, adv., again: S 
384. O.E. eft sona. 

egre, adj., eager: V 289. 
O.F. egre, aigre. 

eien, n., eyes: pi., S 281J 



heien, S 357; heie-ren- 

ning, S 283. O.E. eage. 
eille]?, V. , aileth : pres. 3 sg. , 

S 337. O.E. eglan. 
eke, conj., also: S 159,327. 

O.E. eac. 
eldyst, adj., eldest: superl., 

C 243. O.E. ieldest. 
elles-wer, adv., elsenjuherei 

V208. O.E. elles hwaer. 
els, conj., else: C 265, 348. 

O.E. elles. 
ende, n., end: S 62, C 576. 

O.E. ende. 
enderdai, n., a day re- 
cently past (N. E. /).), 

other day: S 366. M.E. 

compound, O. N. endr + 

O.E. daeg. 
enes, adv., once: S 383. 

Early M.E. aenesj O.E. 

sene. 
eni, see ani. 
entente, n., intent, plan^ 

purpose: C 240, 486,^561. 

O.F. entente, 
ernde, n., errand, business: 

S 3475 hernde, S 40, 97, 

214, 226, 410. O. E. 

serende. 
erne, v., run: infin., V 16. 

O.E. iernan. 
erour, adv., before: V 4. 

O.E. seror. 



io8 



i3l0&&m 



eroust, adv., Jirsi: V i6, 

124. O.E. serest. 
erfe, n., earth: S 107, 325, 

416; erth, C 378. O.E. 

eor'Se. 
csyly, adv., easily. C 245. 

O.F. alsie, p. p. 
eten, v., eat\ infin.,S 279; 

pret. 3 pi., hete, V 1565 

pret. part., I-ete, V 98, 

169; ete, C 157. O.E. 

etan. 
cj>e, adv. , easily : S 3 3 8 . O . 

E. ea)>e. 
euch, euche, adj., each^ 

enjery. V loi, 224, 285. 

O.E. selc. 
cue, n., e've-, C 85. O.E. 

sefen. 
cuele, adv., e^il^ ill: S 173, 

etc. O.E. yfel. 
euensongf, n., 'vespers: C 

161. O.E. sefen-sang. 
euer, euere, adv. , e'ver:^ 26 

etc., V 141, C 115, 141, 

149, 190, etc. O.E. sefre. 
euer-lastyng, adj., ever- 
lasting: C 177, etc. 
euer-more, adv., enjer- 

more: S 385. 
euery, adj., e^very: C 22, 

37, 8j), 104, 105, etc. 

O.E. sefre, aslc. 
euerychon, pron., e^very 



one : C 1 8 5 j heuereuchon, 
V 270. 
euyn, adv., efven: C 468. 
O.E. efne. 

fader, father: C 5, 246. 
O.E. fseder. 

faille, Ti.,fail: S 187. O.F. 
faillir. 

fain, adv., gladly: S 309, 
393. O.E. faggen, adj. 

fair, adj., yiz/r: S 65 feir, S 
3395 %r, C 19, 371; 
feyre, C 11, 3 8 1 j corn- 
par., feiror, S 3405 su- 
per!., feyrest, C 311. 
O.E. faeger. 

faire, adv., fair: S 160; 
feyre, C 234, 371. O.E. 
faegre. 

fallen, v. ^ fall: pres. 3 sg., 
falle>, S 306; pret. 3 sg., 
fell, C 89, 148, befell^ 
happened^ C 855 pret, 
part. , fallyn, C 1 7 j fally d, 
C96. O.E. feallan. 

fals, 2i^yy false: C 308. O. 
F. fals. 

falsdom, n.^ falsehood: S 
65. M. E. compound. 
Earliest citation in N.E, 
D., 1297. 

falsete, n.^ falseness: S loi. 
O.F. falsete. 



^loggarp 



109 



fare, v., fare^ go: infin., 
S 152, V 141, C 236; 
pres. I sg., fare, S 173, 

V 202. O.E. faran. 
fast, adv., quickly. C 325, 

563. O.E. faeste, adv. 

faste, v., pret. 3 sg,, fasted: 
S 324. O.E. fsesten. 

fe, n., money y property: S 
382, C 18, 437. O.E. 
feoh. 

fecche, v., fetch: infin., S 
3 1 4 J pret. subj. 2 sg. , 
fcche, S 386. O.E. fee- 
can. 

fede, Y,yfeedy nourishy sus- 
tain: pres. I sg., S 208, 
321 J pret. I sg., fede; C 
114. O.E. fedan. 

feire, n.,y2z/>: S 77. O.F. 
feire. 

fele, adj., many: V 166; 
felle, C 4o6(?). O.E. 
fela. 

fere, n., companion^ friend: 

V 120, C 125; I-fere, V 
172, 185. O.E. gefera, 
m. 

fere, n., companionship: in 
the phrase, in fere, to- 
gether, C 201. O.E. 
geter, n. 

ferli, adj., ^wonderful: S 
277. O.E. fserlic. 



ferre, adv.,yi7r: €207,489. 
O.E. feor. 

fast, n., feast: C 38, 44, 
49; feste, C 71, 412; ac. 
pi. , festes, C 5 5 , 5 9 J feste, 
C61. O.F. feste. 

festyd, v., feasted: pret. 
3 sg., C 64. O. F. fes- 
ter. 

fete, n., feet: pi., C 314. 
O.E. fet. 

fetour, n., feature: C 11. 
O.F. faiture. 

feyle, n., fail, doubt: C 
390. O.F. faile, faille. 

feylyng, v. n.,fail: C 384. 

feyre, adj., adv.; see 
fair(e). 

finden, v., find: infin., S 34; 
finde, S 316; fonde, S 
342; pret. I sg., foud 
(scribal error.?), V 1625 
pret. 3 sg., fond, V 21, 
93, 294, C 200 j founde, 
S 407, V 73, 92; found, 
C 219; pret. part., founde, 
S 422; founden, invented 
(Matzner), S 203. O.E. 
findan. 

fiue, num.,^^:;^; V 29. O. 
E. fif 

fle, v., fly: imper. 2 sg., V 
38; pret. part., flowen, V 
31. O.E. fleogan. 



no 



^lossar^ 



fles, n., w^<2/: S 327. O.E. 

fl^sc. 
flet, T\.y floor-. S 273. O.E. 

flet(t). 
flok, n., flock'. V 29. O.E. 

flocc. 
flore, n.,^oor: S 102. O.E. 

flor. 
flowen, see fle. 
fode, n., food'. C 119. O. 

E. foda. 
fol,n.,/od?/:Sii5. O.F.fol. 
fol, adv., see ful. 
folewe, v., folloiv'. infin., 

S 350. O.E. folgian. 
fomen, n.yfoes: pi., V 288. 

O.E. fahman. 
fond, fonde, v., see finden. 
fonde, v., try. infin., S 241, 

393. O.E. fandian. 
for, prep., for: S 35, etc., 

C57, ii3>ii9>455>etc.} 

because of C 34. O.E. 

for, fore. 
for, conj., fori S 79, C 96, 

304, 450, 506. 
forderen, v., to promote, 

advance-, pret. 3 sg., for- 

deryd, C 73. O.E. fyr«- 

r(i)an. 
foreward, n., agreement, 

covenant, S 256. O.E. 

foreweard. 
for3elde, v., prcs. subj. 



3sg., pay, requite: S 37, 
326, 415, V 226. O.E. 
for^i(e)ldan. 
ioT-i^Q}XQ,\.,forgi<ve: infin., 

V 1755 forgiue, S 334; 
pres. I sg., for^eue,V 225 ; 
imper. 2 sg., for^ef, V 
209. O.E. forgi(e)fan. 

for^euenesse, rv., relenting: 

V 295. O.E. forgifnes, 
forgyfenes, etc. 

forhelen, v., conceal: p.p. 
forholen, S 237. O.E. 
forhelan. 

forsake, y., forsake: pret. 
part, forsake, V 177. O.E. 
forsacan. 

forsape, v., transform: in- 
fin., S 369. O.E. for- 
sceppan. 

fort, conj., until: V 17 (for 
-|- to), see for to. 

for}?, adv., forth: S 397; 
forth, C 337. O.E. forK 

for-J?i, conj., therefore: S 
171, 180, 344, etc. j for- 
J^en, S 185. O.E. for t>y. 

for J?ider, S 411; = forth 
-f Hder. 

forfinken, v., repent: pres. 
3 sg., forHnke)?, S 139. 
O.E. for'Sencan. 

for to, introducing an infini- 
tive: S 151, 152, 2395 



aiofigarp 



III 



forto, C 164, 424, 4825 

for-to, C 150. Earliest 

citation in A^. £. Z). , 1200. 
fortone, n., fortune-. C 

497. O.F. fortune. 
foud, found, founden, see 

finden. 
foure, num., yo«r: C 470. 

O.E. feower. 
fourti, ViMvci. ^ forty \ S 324. 

O.E. feowertig. 
fre, adj.,yr^^, noble \ S 34, 

339, C 114, 246, 536J 

compar., freour, S 342. 

O.E. freo. 
fre-borne, 2^6!).^ free born \ 

C408. 
frely, adv., /r^^/y: C 429. 

O.E. freolice. 
frend, n., friend-. S 152, 

185, V 1335 pL, frend, 

V160. O.E. freond. 
herein., friar: V 266, 271, 

279, C 325 pL, freren, V 

262. O.F. frere. 
fressch, adj.,yr^/^: C 379. 

O.E. fersc. 
fro, prep. , yrow : S 380, C 

ly^j 305? 335- O.N. fra. 
frute, n., fruit: C 2315 

fruyt, C 206, 307. O.F. 

fruit. 
frythe, n., ivood: C 549. 

O.E. fyr'S, fyrh«. 



ful, adj.,/«//: S 1585 full, 
C24. O.E. ful. 

ful, adv., full, entirely, 
quite, 'very: S 3, 34, V 
215} fol, S 35, etc. 5 full, 
C 108, 234, 256, etc.} 
ful wel, S 257, 278, 450, 

V 238} full wele, C 485. 
O.E. ful. 

fullen, v., fulfil: infin., S 

2395 fyll, ///, C 230. 

O.E. fyllan. 
ful}?e,n.,////^: V165. O.E. 

fyl«. 
furmeste, adj., first: V 21. 

O.E. fyrmest. 
fyll, see fullen. 
fynd, v., find: infin., C 470 

O.E. findan. 

g^abbe, v., jest, lie: imper. 

2 sg.,V 121. O.F. gab- 
(b)er, O.N. gabba. 

gan, v., did: pret. 3 sg., C 
59, 146, 214, etc.} gon, 

V I, 83, 195, 240J pret. 

3 pi., gounnen, V 283. 
Aphetic form of began. 
In this sense from 1200. 

gange, v.,go,'walk:Sz62, 
308, 437. O.E. gangan. 

gar, garen, v., make, cause: 
infin., S 281, 290, 449. 
O.N. ger(o)a. 



112 



i&\o&&m 



gare-mersy, 



n. 



great 



thanks y gramercy : C 42 1 . 
O.F. grand merci. 

garthyn, n., garden : C 
187, 218. O.N.F. gar- 
din. 

gent, gente, adj., gentle, 
noble-, C 253, 386. O.F. 
gent. 

gentyll, adj., gentle, noble-. 

C i5> 25> 309* 536* etc., 
O.F. gentil. 

gentyll-men, n., gentle- 
men-, pi., C d^. M. E. 
compound. N, £. Z). 
1275. 

get, n., goats: pi., V 167. 
O.E. gat, get. 

gete, v., get: infin., S 14, 
C 155, 3525 geten, S447; 
subj. I sg., gete, S 2345 
O.E. gietan, gitanj O.N. 
geta. 

geue, v., giue: infin., S 
223, 3885 ^eue, S 191 5 
gyfF, C 287, 513} pres. 2 
sg., ^euest, S 2875 pres. 
subj. 3 sg., ^eue, S 442, 
V 34jpret. 3 sg., ^aue, C 
290 j ^affe, C 46 1 5 gafe, C 
45i> 550. 5545 gaff, C 
18, 4545 gaffe, C 5415 
pret. part., I-giuen. O.E. 
gifan. 



geyst, n., geste, tale: C 
484. O.F. geste. 

gift, n.,gift:S 223} gyft, 
C 4055 gyfte, C 346, 
467, 4795 pl-j giftes, S 
388; gyftes, C 50, 282. 
O.E. gift. 

gin, ginne, n., trick, clev- 
erness, contrivance, trap : 
S 289, V 72, 77, 82, 86, 
103, 125. O.Fc engin. 

gistninge, n., dat., feast, 
banquet (Matzner) : V 
255. Scand. Cf. O. Sw. 
gastning. 

glad, adj.: S 328, 402, V 
249> C 30, 124, 136, 
397, etc. O.E. giaed. 

gladly, adv. : C 244. O.E. 
glaedlice. 

go, gon, v., go, njoalk: in- 
fin., go, 8185,297, 319, 
V i,etc.,C 146,239,259, 
272, etc. j go = voalk, C 
4745 gon, S 135, 156, 
417, V 108, 283, C 50, 
184; pres. subj. 3 sg., 
go, C420; I p]., go, C 
1395 pres. imper. 2 sg. ,go, 
C 296} pret. 3 sg., went, 
C 292, 324, etc. 5 wente, 
C 186, 277, 290; pret. 
3 pi., went, C 154, 161, 
167, etc. ; wente, C178} 



^loessars 



"3 



pret. part., gon, S 765 
gon= agOy C 5005 I- 
gon, S 80, etc. See also 
ede, hede. O.E. gan, 
wendan. 
God) pr. n., God: S 25, 
315, etc., C 176, 179, 
etc. 5 goed, S 210, 314, 

317, 322, 3305 gen. sg., 
godes, S 197, V 56, 57, 
C 1645 dat. Gode, V 
158. O.E. God. 
gode, adj., good: S 300, V 

172, C 51, 118, 229, 
etc. j god, S 2855 goed, V 

173. O.E. god. 
godeyii.y goods, njoealth: V 

147, C58, 68, 419, 4255 
goed, V 1 61 } god, C 70, 
155; godes, C 137. O.E. 
g5d. 

Goder-hele, in phr. to 
goder hele, to {your) good 
fortune: S 2615 used like 
a nom. sg., goder-hele, 
S 269. La^. to godere 
Hre haele = O. E. to godre 
h§ele. 

gode sir, n., like A. F. 
beau sir, dear sir: C 2 7 1 . 

godlec, n., goodness, bene- 
fit: S 227. O. N. go5- 
leik-r. 

godnedai, pht., good day: 



accus. sg., S 1455 goddai, 
S 397. 

godnes, n., goodness: C 295 
good, C 574} good for- 
tune, C 224. O.E. god- 
nes. 

goed, n.fgood: S 252, V 39, 
46jgod, S285. O.E. god. 

gold, n., gold: C 18, 53, 
288. O.E. gold. 

gome, n., sport: V 24. O. 
E. gamen. 

gon, V. , pret. 3 sg. , see gan. 

gore, n,, front section of a 
skirt, ^voider at bottom than 
at top, by synecdoche, 
skirt, petticoat, gonjon : 
under gore = under one's 
clothes {N,E.D,): S 5. 
O.E. gar a. 

gossip, n., sponsor in bap- 
tism: V 116, 208, etc. 
O.E. godsibb. 

gounnen, see gan. 

gouflich, adj. , goodly of ap- 
pearance, handsome: S 5. 
O.E. godlic. 

grace, n., grace: C 497. 
O.K. grace. 

gradde, v., cried out: pret. 



3 sg. 



V 282. 



grante, v., grant: infin., 
C 3625 pres. subj. 2 sg., 
grante, S 375, C 344; 



114 



&\0&6Kt^ 



graunte, C286, 31653 sg., 
grante, S 3 62 5 pres. imper. 
2sg.,grante, C357 5pret. 
3 sg., grantyd, C 3205 
pret. part., grantyd, C 
238, 506. O.F. graunter. 

grantise, n., grant, con- 
cession-. S 414. O. F. 
grantise. 

grantyng, n., granting, 
boon-. C 434J granteyng, 
C 440. 

grasyos, adj., gracious: 
C 172. O.F. gracious. 

gref, n., reluctance-. S 36. 
O.F. grief, gref. 

gren, adj., green-. C 200. 
O.E. grene. 

gret, adj., great-, sing., 
V1685 pl-,grete, V 155, 
290; sg. and pi., grete, C 
5, 31, 104, 221, 282, 
292, etc. O.E. great. 

grete, v., ^r^^/^^: pret. 3sg., 
C 465,- grette, S 160. 
O.E. gretan. 

greten, v., pres. 3 pL, 
ijoeep-. S 357. O.E. grae- 
tan. 

grette, v., see grete. 

greuans, n., ill fortune-. C 
222. O.F. grevance. 

greue, v., grie^ve-. infin., S 
59) pret. 3 sg., greuyd, 



C 442 5 pret. part. , greuyd, 

refl.,C45o. O.F. grever. 
grew, v., see grow, 
grif, n., peace: S 267; 

grythe, C 299, 546. O. 

E. gri-S, O.N. gri«. 
grome, n., anger, njurathi 

S 197. O.E. grama. 
%V0Mn6.yn., ground: C375} 

dat., grounde = bottom, 

V 74, 91. O.E. grund. 
grow, w,, groiJu: pres. 3 pi., 

C 204 5 pres. part. , grow- 

yng, C 3785 pret. 3 sg., 

grew, C 307. O.E. 

growan. 
grym, adv., grimly: C 526. 

O.E. grim, 
grymly, adv., grimly: C 

465. O.E. grimlice. 
grythe, n., see gri}?. 
gyft, n., see gift, 
gytherners, n., player on 

the gittern: C loi. O.F. 

guitem. 

^are, 2i^v.,fora long time: 

V 169. O.E. geara. 
^are, adv., readily, quickly: 

C 469. O.E. gearo. 
3at, n., gate: V 205 ^ate, C 

284. O.E. geat. 
^e, pers. '^ion.,ye,you: C i, 

233>^35, 365>429idat., 



(S\o&&m 



115 



ou, V 215; ^ou, C 377, 
etc.} accus., ou, V 214, 
216; ^ou, C 272, etc.; 
gen., ^our, C 303, 407, 
408, etc.; of pure, of 
yours, C 495. O.E. je, 
eower, eow. 
^e, affirm, part. , j^^<3: : S 232, 

V 176, 207, C 538. O. 
E. gea. 

3ef, 3if, conj., if-, ^if, S 
59 5 ^ef, V 98, 204; if, 
S 32, 52, etc., C 490; 
yff, C 208, 268; if to, 
S 52; ^if J>at, S 59; ^eif 
l>at, S 443. O. E. gif. 
See if. 

jelpe, v., boast: infin., S 
227. O.Eo gielpan. 

^enge, adj., see 3ong. 

^er, n.^year-. pi. ^er, S 67; 
sing. & pi. pre, C 37, 
55, 64, 204, 205, 571. 
O.E. gear. 

prne, 3.dv. , earnestly , eager- 
ly: S i^,V 1 S, 93. O.E. 
georne, adv. 

-^ety 3.dv.y yet: S iii, 404, 

V 153. O.E. giet. 
^eue, v., see geue. 
^if, conj., see 3ef. 

3irne, v., desire: pres. subj. 
2 sg. , ^ime, S 45. O.E. 
giernan. 



30I, n., TuUy Christmas: S 

116. O.E. geol, geohol. 
30ng, adj., young: sing., 

S 361,- pi., png, C 566; 

pL, pnge, C 517. O.E. 

geong. 
3onge, v., go: infin., V 61. 

See gonge. 
3urstendai, n., yesterday. 

S 73. O.E. geostran + 

dasg. 
3US, adv., j^j: S 294. O.E. 

gise, gese. 

ha, pers. pron, see hoe. 
haiward, n., hedge njuar- 

den, hayuoard: V 26. M. 

E. compound. O.E. hege 

+ O.E. weard. 
hakney, n., hackney: C 

251. O.F. haquenee. 
half so, adv., half so: V 4. 

O.E. healf swa. 
halle, n., hall: S 22, C 

314, 326; hall, C 324, 

325. O.E. heall. 
halp, see helpe. 
han, see haue. 
hang, v., hung: pret. 3 

pL, C 153. O.E. Hon, 

heng. 
harde, adv., hard, strongly: 

S 204, V 195. O.E. 

hearde. 



ii6 



^losfiar^ 



harper, n., harper-, C 484; 
herper, C 4875 pi., hel- 
pers, C loi. O.E. hear- 
pere. 

haue, Y.^ha^ex infin., haue, 
S 164, C 36, 225, 2825 
hauen, S 1 9 6 5 han, V 8 7 j 
hafe, C 2355 pres. i sg., 
haue, S 58, 424, 0,143, 
205, 207, etc.; habbe, 
S 67, V 200, 201, 203, 
210; habe, S 91; have, 
V40; pres. 2 sg., hauest, 
S 194, 256, 268, V 47, 
54> i73> 185, 2445 hast, 
C 411, 412; has \>ou}, C 
355 5 pres. 3 sg., haue^, 
S 112, 214, 216, etc., V 
122, 168; hath, C 231; 
pres. 3 pi., haue>, S 310; 
pres. subj. 2 sg., haue, 
S 51, 145; pres. subj. i 
pi., haue, C 226 ; im- 
per. 2 sg., haue, S 270; 
pret. I sg., heuede, S 
339, V 134; 3 sg., 
heuede, S 9, 422, V 68, 
etc. ; hedde, V 2 8 5 ; hede, 
V 288; had, C 7, 25, 
2 9, etc. ; held, regard- 
ed, C 503; pret. 3 pi., 
had, C 137, 157; pret. 
subj. I sg., hedde, V 
^35) ^ sg. , hade, nvouldst 



hanje, C438; heuedest, S 
250, V 1 77. O.E.habban, 
haefde. 

haui, haue + I. 

he, pers. pron. : nom., he, S 
4, 7, etc., V 3, 5, etc., 
C 7, 10, etc.; dat., him, 
S 142, V 2, etc.; hym, 
C 36, 56, 75j etc.; ac- 
cus., him, S 13, 94, V 
114, 259, etc.; hym, C 
23, 123, 124, etc.; hine, 
V 123. O.E. he, his, 
him, hine. 

heddre, see eddre. 

hede, v., see ede. 

hede, n., see heued. 

hedlyng, adv., headlong: 
C 360. M.E. formation 
from O.E. heafod + O.E. 
-ling. Cf. O.E. bsecling. 

heie, heien, see eien. 

heie-renning, n., running 
at the eyes : S 2 8 3 . Not 
cited in N.E.D, 

hei3tte, v., is named: pret. 
3 sg., S 177; heyte, V 
271; pret. 3 sg., hyght, 
C 28; pret. part., hy^t, 
C 7. O.E. hatan, het. 

held, see holden. 

hele, see goder-hele. 

helen, v., conceal-, infin., S 
241, 253. O.E. helan. 



^lossar^ 



117 



help, n., helpi S 164, 236, 
371. O.E. help. 

helpe, v., help: infin., S 
188,210, 228; pres.3 sg., 
helpys, C 1275 pres. 3 
pi., helpen, S 21 ij im- 
per. 2 sg., help, S 221; 
pret. 3 sg., halp, V 84. 
O.E. helpan. 

hem, pers. pron., see hy. 

hen, n., hen-, accus. sg., V 
7} nom. pi., hennen, V 
2^8, 32, 3 5? gen. pi., hen- 
nen, V 40. O.E. henn, 
hen. 

hende,adj., ^r^ao^j, cour- 
teous'. S 119, 1545 hend, 
C 570. O.E. gehende. 

hende, adv., graciously: S 
61. O.E. gehende. 

hente, v., took: pret. 3 sg., 
C 123, 278. O.E. hen- 
tan. 

her, adv., here: S 68, 194, 
252, etc., V 1405 here, C 
217, 488, etc. O.E. her. 

her-bifore,adv., heretofore: 
V222. O.E. her + befor- 
an. 

herdy, adj., hardy y bra^ve: 
C 3, 329, 537. O. F. 
hardi. 

here, pers. pron., see hy. 

here, v., hear: infin., C i, 



482, 488, etc.; pres. i 

sg., here, V 128; pret. 

I sg., herde, S 2, 735 

herd, C 126; pret. 3 sg., 

herde, V 170; herd, C 

98, 104; inf., I-here, S 

368, V i86j pres. i sg., 

I-here, V 119; pret. 3 

sg. , I-herde, V 1 1 3 . O.E. 

(ge)hleran. 
her-inne, adv., herein : S 2 5, 

V 1045 her-in, S 321. O. 

E. herinne. 
herknen, v., listen: infin., 

S 50. O.E. hercnian. 
herlot, n., rascal: C 355. 

O. F. herlot, (h)arlot, 

'vagabond, 
hernde, n., see ernde. 
hernest, n., real meaning; 

S 230. O.E. eomust. 
herpers, see harper, 
herte, n., heart: S 10, 356, 

360; hert, C 190. O.E. 

heorte. 
hertely, adv., heartily: C 

409. In N.E.D, first qu. 

fr. Cursor Mundi. 
Hertou, art thou, see be, 

ben. 
hete, see eten. 
hej?en, adv., hence: S 295. 

O.N. he'San. 
hefer, see hider. 



ii8 



€^logfl?ar^ 



heued, n., head\ S 3355 

hede, C 266, 299. O.E. 

heafod. 
heuede, v., see haue. 
heuene, n.^hewven-. S 325, 

4165 heuen, C 575. O. 

E. heofon. 
heuene-blisse, n., bliss of 

Hea'ven*, V 233. 
heuene-king,n., Hea^erC s 

King', S 31, 895 heuen- 

kyng, C 109. O.E. heo- 

foncyning. 
heuereuchon, pron., see 

euerychon. 
heui, adj., hewvy^ sad, de- 
pressed: V 278; heuy, C 

322. O.E. hefig. 
hey, adv. phrase, on hey, 

on high, to a height: V 

31. O.E. heah, see hy. 
hie, see I. 
hider, adv., hither: S 180, 

261; hej>er, C 330. O.E. 

hider. 
hiderward, adv., here: S 

255. O.E. hiderweard. 
hile, see goder-hele. 
bine, pers. pron., see he. 
hire, pers. pron., see hoe. 
hire, poss. pron., her: S 

412, etc. J hyr, C 243. 

O.E. hiere, hire. See 

hoe. 



his, hiis, v., see be. 

his, poss. pron., his: S 10, 
etc., C 58, 312; hys 
(sing. & pi.), C 61, 62, 
74, 152, etc. O.E. his. 

hit, pron., it: S 28, 45, 
60, etc., V 46, 60, etc.; 
it, C 8 8, 165 ; yt, C 
321, 441, etc. O.E. hit. 

hoe, pers. pron.,/^^: nom., 
hoe, S 20, 23, 179, etc. 5 
ha, S 3625 dat., hire, S 
10; hyr, C 146; accus., 
hire, S 14, 151, etc. O. 
E. heo, liire, hire, hie. 
See sche. 

hoe, pL, see hy, 

hoeld, v., see held. 

hof, prep., see of. 

hof^urst, adj., (of+)>urst), 
thirsty: V 274. See a- 
|>urst, V 66; see afingret, 
p. p. O.E. ofl?yrsted, of- 
i>yrst, p. p. 

holde, adj., see olde. 

holden, v., hold: infin., S 
71; hold, C 38, 61, 91, 
546; pres. I sg., hold, 
regard, consider, C 1 42 ; 2 
sg. , oldest, S 115; pret. 
3 sg., hoeld, V 5; 3 pL, 
held, C 55; p.p., hold, 
regarded, considered, C 
565. O.E. heal dan. 



(S\o6&avs 



119 



holi,adj., ^o/y: 8205,2545 

holy, C135. O.E. halig. 

horn, n., /lome: S 97, etc., 

V 34, C 1785 home, C 
180, 556. O.E. ham. 

hom-come, n.^komecoming: 
S 293. O.E. hamcyme. 

hon, prep., see on. 

bond, n. , /land : dat. ,0196, 
1985 honde, S 240, V 
1025 pL, hondes, C 95, 
106. O.E. hand, hond. 

hondred, num., hundred-. 
S 1045 hundryth, C 555. 
O. E. hundred. North. 
hundratS, hundre'S, n. 

hongi, V. vs\Xx.^hang\ infin., 

V 88, 2325 pret. 3 pi., 
hang, C 153. O.E. han- 
gian; hon, heng. 

honour, n., honor-. C 377. 

O.F. honur. 
honouren, v., honor-, p. p. 

honouryd, C 412. O.F. 

(h)onorer. 
hope, v., hope-, pres. i sg., 

C 1 44 5 pret. 3sg.,hopyd, 

C 72; hopede, V79. O. 

E. hopian. 
hore, poss. pron., their-. S 

210. O.E. hieraj hiora, 

heora. See hy. 
hore, n., ivhore-. S 99. O. 

N. hora. O.H.G. huora. 



hors, n., horse-. C 2485 pi., 

C 52. O.E. hors. 
bote, v., command: pres. 

I sg., V 36. O.E. ha- 

tan. 
bou, conj., hoiv: S 14, 292, 

etc. 5 ou, V 230. O.E. 

hu. 
bounbinde, v., unbind: 

pres. subj. 3 sg., S 315. 

O.E. un -J- bindan. 
houncurteis, adj., uncour- 

teous: S 46. O.E. un + 

O.F. corteis. 
boundes, n., dogs: V 290, 

O.E. bund. 
bounderstonde, v., under- 
stand: infin., 82635 pret. 

3 sg., hounderstod, V 77. 

O.E. understandan. 
boune, adj., see ouene. 
bounger,n.,/^«7;^^r: S 310, 

3125 V 13, 68, 168, etc. 5 

honger,Vii2. O.E. hun- 

gor. 
bounla^Are, n., <ijorong: 8 

60. M.E. word, O.E. 

un + O.E. lagu. 
bounsele, n., unhappi- 

ness: 8 175. O.E. unsjel, 

m. 
boup, adv., see oup. 
boure, poss. pron., our: 8 

31, 89, 236, 408, etc., 



120 



&\o&&m 



V 35, 59. Seeoure. O.E. 
ure. 

houSyii. i /louse :S 27 'i,y 11, 

275 house, S 92, V 261. 

O.E. hus. 
hous, I pers. pron., see ous, 
houssebonde, hosse- 

bande, n., husband', S 

137; hossebande, S 341. 

1. O. E. husbonda. O.N. 

husbondi. 
houssewif, n., housenxjife-, 

S 361. M.E. compound : 

first qu. fr. Ancren 

Riwle. 
houssong, n., matins-. V 

265, 2705 houssonge, V 

274. O.E. uhtsong. 
houte, adv., see oute. 
how-fat-euer, adv., ho^- 

e'ver : C 420. Not cited in 

N.E.D. 
hundryth, see hondred. 
hy, pers. pron., 3 pi., they. 

V41, 42, 204, 2835 hoe, 

V 264, 268; gen., here, 

V 43, 265, 267, 274} 
hoere, V 2725 hore, S 
2105 dat., hem, S 210, 
212, V 455 accus., hem, 

V 162, 2675 Ime (?), V 
264. O. E. hie (hy), 
hiera (hiora, heora), him. 
See }?ei, and }?er. 



hy, hye, adj., h'tgh\ C 10, 

422, 498. O.E. heah. 

See hey, 
hye, pers. pron., see hoe. 
hy3ht, v., promised', pret. 

3 sg., C4685 pret. 3 pi., 

hyght, owued, C 5 6 2 . O . E. 

hatan, he(h)t. 
hyght, hy^t, <uoas namedy 

see hei3tte. 
hym-selue, pron., himself y 

he\ nom., C 63. 

I, pron., I pers., I: S 32, 
47, 50, etc., C 112, 
142, etc. 5 ich, S 2, 26, 
etc., V 36, 103, 119, 
128, 132, 133, 1625 ihc, 
S 148, V 1595 hie, S 
2375 Y, C III, 114, 
219, 220, 298, 315, 
etc. 5 dat. sing., me, S 
42, V 38, C 2865 accus. 
sing., me, S 29, C 272, 
etc. O.E. ic, min, me, 
me(c). 

I-bede, p. p., see bidde. 

I-ben, p. p., see be. 

I-blessi, see blesse. 

I-boen, part, adj., ready. S 
434. Prefix i + O. Dan. 
boin. 

I-bonden, part, adj., boundi 
harde ibonden, ' hard 



^lotfgar^ 



121 



pressed/ <]n straits/ S 

204. See bind. 
I-brout, see bringen. 
ich, see I. 
iche, see ilke. 
I-cloJ?ed, see closed. 
I-crope, v., crept; pret. 

part., V 2 8. O.E. creopan. 
I-do, i-don, p. p., see do. 
I-ete, see eten. 
if, see 36 f. 
I-faie, adv. , ^/<2^/y : V 199. 

O.E. gefaegen. 
I-fere, see fere. 
I-gon, see go(n), 
i-here, see here. 
I-kaut, v., caught: p. p., 

V 86, 103. O.F. cachier. 
I-knede, p. p., kneaded-. V 

256. O.E. cnedan. 
I-kneu, see knowen. 
I-knowe, p. p., confessed-. 

V 182. M.E. cnawenn, 
qu. fr. Orm. etc. in the 
sense of acknouuledgey 
confess ; cf. M. E. a- 
knowe, O.E. oncnawan. 

ilke, adj., each, e^very: S 
208, 3075 same, ^ery, 
S 289, V 47, 99, 271, 
etc.; Iche, each, C 512. 
O.E. aelc. 

I-loke, p. p., locked-, V 20. 
O.E. lucan. 



I-loued, see loue. 

I-maked, see make. 

I me (?), V 264, refl. pron. 

accus. constr. after arisen. 

Cf. hy ; or = inne (^Maetz- 

ner), prep., in. 
I-munt, p. p., meant ^ in- 

tended: V 244. O. E. 

myntan. 
in, prep., in-. S 6, 15, etc., 

V 25, 82, etc., C 105, 

etc.; yn, C 4, 14, 104, 

etc.; ine, V 138, 162, 

163, C 134; ime (?), V 

264. O.E. in. 
in, inne, adv., in, inside-. 

S 20, 300, V 22, 23, 25, 

etc. O.E. in. 
in-dede, adv., indeed-. C 

499- 
inne, n., house-. S 19, 299, 

406. O.E. inn, in. 
I-nou, adj., enough-. S 93, 

V24, 147; I-nowe,V288. 

O.E. genoh. 
I-nou, adv., enough-. V 79, 

83, 259, 278; I-now^e, 

C 519. O.E. genoh. 
in-to, prep.: S 22, C 324; 

yn-to, C 177, 187. O.E. 

into, 
in-werd, adv., inivard: C 

268, 511. O.E. inweard. 
ioies, pi. see loy. 



122 



&\066m 



I-seie,I-sey,I-siist,see se. 
I-shend, see shend. 
I-shoed, part, adj., skod: 

S 320. 
I-sriue, see sriue. 
I-stounge,v.,p.p.,/>/>rr^^, 

t/irust : V 292. O. E. 

stingan. 
I-swonge,v. , p. ip.ySivinged, 

beaten: V 291. 
it, pers. pron., see hit. 
I-take, see take. 
I-wend, see wene. 
I -wis, adv., certainly. S 43, 

143; mid I-wisse, V234, 

293. O.E. gewis. 
I-wreken,v.,p.p.,<a:'i;^«^^^: 

S 215. O.E. wrecan. 
I-writen, v., p. p., ^writ- 

teni V 204. O.E. writan. 

jentyll, adj., gentle, noble-. 

C 60. O.F. gentil. 
Ihesu, pr. n. : C 109, 376, 

3 80 J Ihesu cryst, C 170. 
jorneye, n. Journey. C 249. 

O.F. jornee. 
loy, n., joy.C 552, 572, 

5765 pi., ioies, V 166. 

O.F. ioye. 
iugement, n., judgment'. 

S 246. F. jugement. 
iuperti, n., venture-. S 276. 

O.F. iu parti. 



kare, n., care\ S 153, 442, 

V34, 142,164, etc. O.E. 

cearu, cam. 
kenne, v., teach-, infin., S 

264. O.E. cennan. 
kepe, V. , keep -. subj. 2 sg. , C 

1745 3 sg., C 176. O.E. 

cepan. 
king, n., king-. S 31, 89, 

426; kyng, C 274, 281, 

287, 343, etc.; gen., 

kynges, C 346. O. E. 

cynlng. 
klene, see clene. 
knaue, n., young man: S 

201. l.O.E. cnafa, O.E. 

cnapa. 
kne, n., knee-, C 169, 191. 

O.E. cneo. 
knelen, y.ykneel-. pret. 3 sg., 

knelyd, C169, 188, 191; 

pres. part., knelyng, C 

372, 375. O.E. cneowlian. 
kny^ht, n., knight-. C 7, 

13; knyght, C 25, 60; 

pi., knyghtes, C 503. 

O.E. cniht. 
knowen, v., kno^w-. pres. 

2 sg., knowyst, C 491; 

pret. 3 sg., kneu, V 114; 

I-kneu, V 1 2 3 ; pret. 3 pi. , 

knew, C 5 6 6 5 p. p. , knaw, 

C 528. O.E. cna wan; see 

also I-knowe, p.p. 



Slofi&^rs 



123 



koky n., cock: V 30, 31, 

etc. O.E. cocc. 
kors, n., curse: V 201. 

O.E. curs, 
kun, kunne, see cunne. 
kyssen, v., kiss: pret. 3 

sg., kyssed, C 124. O.E. 

cyssan. 

lady, n., lady: C 28, 175, 

229. O.E. hlaefdige. 
lame, adj., lame: S 199. 

O.E. lama. 
landes, see lond. 
(at>e)last, n.,<3//^//:C 67 j 

laste, S 141. O.E. latest. 
late, v., see let. 
late, adv., /^/^: V 81. O.E. 

laet. 
lavr, n., laiv: C 525. O.E. 

lagu. 
lawe, V. , laugk : Infin. , lawe, 

S 401,* pret. 3 sg., lou, V. 

23, 148 5 pret. 3 pl.,lew^e, 

C 517, 520. O.E. hleh- 

han, &c. 
lede, v., lead: infin., lede, S 

211; pres. I sg., lede, S 

174, 1755 3 pi., ledeh S 

304. O.E. laedan. 
lede, n., people: C 418, 

424. O.E. leode. 
lef, adj., see leue. 
lefmon, n., see leuemon, 



left, V. intr., remained: 
pret. 3 sg., C 81, 82. 
O.E. Isefde. 

left, V. tr., left:p. p.,C75. 
O.E. liefan. 

lege, adj., liege: C. 407, 
421, 493>etc. O.F. lige, 
liege. 

leien, v. lay, place: pret. 3 
sg., leyd, C 475. O.E. 
lecgan. 

leng, lengour, adj., corn- 
par., longer: S 148, V 425 
lenger,C 196. O.E. leng. 

lepen, v. , leap : imper. 2 sg. , 
lep, V 2345 pret. 3 sg., 
lep, V22, 78, etc. O.E. 
hleapan. 

lere, v., teach: infin., V 
231. O.E. Iseran. 

lerne, v., learn: infin., 
8485 pret. I sg. , lemede, 
S 98. O.E. leornian. 

les, adj., less, smaller: C 
226, 569. O.E. Isessa. 

les, n., falsehood: C 493. 
O.E. leas. 

lese, v., lose: pres. 2 sg., 
lesest, S I 345 3 sg., lese}?, 
S 141,- p. p., leste, C 705 
lore, C 34 5 lorn, C 405. 
O.E. leosan. 

lesing, n., falsehood: S 
203,283. O.E. leasung. 



124 



^lossar^ 



leste, cony, t/iat — not: S 
202. O.E. py las pe. 

leste, adj., least, smallest: 
pL, C 413. O.E. Isest. 

leste, v., see lese. 

lete, v., let, permit: Infin., 
let blood, V 51; pres. i 
pL, late, C 2305 pres. 
subj. 3 sg., lete, S 196, 
3645 imper. 2 sg., let, 
S 29; late, C 272; p. p., 
leten, V 40, 45. O.E. 
Isetan. 

lete, v., lea^e off, cease', 
infin., C61. O.E. lettan. 

lette, n., hindrance : C 
459. M.E. first qu. from 
1175. 

lettyng, v. n., hindering: 
0291,297. O.E. lettan. 
O.E. letting. 

leue, n., league, permission: 
S 58, ¥25,0290. O.E. 
leaf. 

leue, adj., dear, belo<ved: S 
135, i7i;lef, 833; corn- 
par, leuere, liefer, prefer- 
able, S 382, V 75 leuer, 
C 503; cf. compounds: 
leuelif, leuemon. O. E. 
leof. 

leue, v., grant: pres. subj. 



3 sg. 



147, 212, 215, 



O.E. lifan, lyfan. 



leuelif, n., snjueetheart: S 
30. 

leuemon, n., snjueetheart, 
leman: S 418, 4475 leu- 
mon, S 127} lefmon, S 
376. O.E. leof-j-mann. 
Early M.E. compound. 

leuen, v., lea^ve, abandon: 
infin., S 153. O. E. 
liefan. 

leute, n., loyalty, fidelity: 
S 229. O.F. leute, lewte. 

leuys, n., pi. leases: C 
200. O.E. leaf. 

lew^e, see lawe. 

leyd, see leien. 

libe, v., li've: infin., V 42; 
lyfe, C 785 liuie, V 165; 
pres. I sg.. Hue, S 3335 
pret. 3 pi., lyued, C571. 
O.E. lifian, libban. 

lie, v., lie, prevaricate: in- 
fin., V 132, imper. 2sg., 
li^, S 229. O.E. leogan. 

lif, n., life: S 82, V 178, 
etc. 5 lyfe, C 26, lyffe, C 
177; liif, V 1885 dat., 
liue,V2i 1,227, 250; pl-> 
Hues, S 304. O.E. llf 

lif-dayes, n. pi., life days-, 
V 495 lif-daie, V 200. 
O.E. lifdagas. 

Ii3t, adj., easy: V 236. 
O.E. liht. 



€s\os!sm 



125 



liken, v., please: infin., S 
82; like, S 257. O. E. 
lician. 

lim, n., limb: pi. limes, S 
311. O.E. lim. 

Lincolne-shire, pr. n. : S 
78. 

liuie, see libe. 

lo, interj., C 217. O.E. 
la. 

loke, v., look, see to it that: 
pres. imper. 2 sg., S 357, 
398, 440, C 276} pret. 
3 sg., lukyd, looked y ap- 
peared, C 526. O.E. 
locian. 

lond, n., land: C 16, 117, 
418, 424, 5495 londe 
(dat.), S 266, V loi; 
pi., landes, C 945 lon- 
dys, C 548. O.E. land, 
lond. 

longe, adv., (time), long: 
V 280 j long, C 356. 
O.E. lang. 

longen, v., belong: pres. 3 
sg., longes, C 119, 542. 
M. E. longen (first certain 
qu. fr. Cursor Mundi). 
cf. O.E. gelang, adj. 

lord, n., /ori: C 172, 176, 
etc., louerd, S 17, 31, 
etc.; pi., lordes, C 326, 
446, etc. O.E. hlaford. 



lordynges,n.,/z>/: pl.,Ci. 
M. E. first qu. fr. Orrm 
(laferrdinngess, pL), etc. 

lore, v., see lese. 

lore, n., lore, learning, les- 
son: S 4, 264. O.E. lar. 

lorn, see lese. 

loj?, adj., loath, unpleasant, 
hateful: S 42, V 6, 219. 
O.E. laK 

lou, I0U3, see lawe. 

loue, n., lo^e: S 12, etc., 
C 302. O.E. lufu. 

loue, v., lo^e: infin., S 87, 
144; louien, S 7, 2655 
pres. I sg. , loue, S 2 3 3 ; 2 
sg., louest, S 2315 3 sg., 
loue]?, S 94, 362; pret. i 
sg., louyd, C 501; pret. 3 
sg., louede, S3435 p. p., 
I-loued, S 67, 178. O.E. 
lufian. 

louerd, n., see lord. 

loue-uerc, n., lo^e-njuork: 

S 374- 
luitel,adv., little: S 362, V 

260. O.E. lytel. 
lukyd, see loke. 
lust, n., desire:W 96, 100. 

O.E. lust. 
lyde, n., lid: C 278, 310. 

O.E. hlid. 
lyfe, v., see libe. 
lyfe, lyffe, n., see lif. 



126 



«lo0sar^ 



lyften, v.,///?: pret. 3 sg., 

lyfte, C 310. Icel. lypta. 
lyke, conj., like: C 452. 

O.E. ge-lic. 
lyne, v., cease-, infin., C 

133. O.E. linnan. 
lyre, n., cheek-. C 153. 

O.E. hleor. 
lysten, v., listen-, imper. 2 

pi., lystyns, C i. O.E. 

hlystan. 
lyte, n.y little: C 69. O.E. 

lyt. 
lytell, adj., //////: C 76. 

O.E. lytel. 
lythe, n., limb : C 298. 

O.E. liK 
lyued, see libe. 

mai, v., can, may: pres. i 
sg., mai, S 32, etc., V 
141 5 may, V 230, C 141, 
496} 2 sg., mait, S 495 
mi^t, S 135, 227; mijtt, 
S 345 mai^t, S 258, 259, 
389, etc.; maiit, S 221; 
may, C 488; mai, S 122; 
may, C.203, etc.; 2 pL, 
may, C 235; 3 pL, may, 
C 47; pres. subj. i sg., 
moue, S 370; pret. i sg., 
myght, C 511; pret. 3 
sg., mi^tte, S 83, 237, V 
112; mi^te, V 8 7 ; my^ht, 



C 26, 78; mou^ht, C 3395 
3 pl.,my^ht, C 155,1595 
^y^U C 520; pret. subj. 
3 sg., moute, S 14. 
O.E. mugan, masg. 

maiden, n., maiden: S 92. 
O.E. masgden. 

main, n., strength: dat., 
maine, V 279. O.E. mae- 
gen. 

maister, n., master: V. 
206, 272. O.K. maistre. 

maistri, n., artifice, trick: 
S 277. O.F. maistrie. 

make, v., mate: S 107. 
O.E. gemaca. 

make, v., make: infin., S 
39, 222, C 59, 112; 
maken, S 142, 263; pres. 
3 pi., make>, V 29; pres. 
subj. 2 sg., make, C 3005 
ipl.,make, C 140; pres. 
imper. 2 sg., make, S 240, 
328; pres. part., makyng, 
C 195; pret. 2 sg., mad- 
yst, C no; 3 sg., made, 
C7I5 84, 94, etc.; I pi., 
made, C 480; 3 pi., made, 
C 156; p. p., maked, S 
200, 256; I-maked, V72. 
O.E. macian. 

maki, make + I: S 344. 

man, n., man: C 6, 8, etc.; 
mon, S 3, 71, 122, 219, 



^io&sm 



127 



etc., V 2855 gen. manus, 
C 119; pi., men, V 6, C 

79j 3 50} gen. pL, men, 
S 207. O.E. mann. 

maner, n., mansion-, pi., 
maners, C 62, 74, 92. 
O.F. manoir. 

manere, n. , manner, njoay, 
kind of'. S 3675 maner, C 
203, 252, 5565 pi. (?), 
maner, C 559. O. F. 
manere. 

many, adj., many. C 103, 
571, etc. J many a, C 33, 
64, 463, 472; moni, S 
67, 178, V 1735 moni 
a, S 224. O.E. manig, 
monig. 

marchaundise, n., mer- 
chandise. O.F. marchan- 
dise. 

Margeri, pr. n. : S 177, 
231. 

marke, n., mark: S 224. 
O.E. mearc. 

Mary, pr. n. : C 313, 340; 
seynt Mary, C265. 

masse, n., mass-, V 252. 

may, see mai. 

me, indef. pron., one: S 76, 
V 75. See mon. 

me, pers. pron. See I. 

mede, n., renjuard-. S 166, 
191 etc. O.E. med. 



meding,n., re<ward\ S271. 
O.E. med. 

meke, adj., meek\ C 21. 
M.E. meoc, mec, first 
qu. fr. Orrm. 

mekyll, adj., see muchel. 

mel, n., meal-. V 1735 wil? 
>i meel, < toward thy 
meal,' V247 5gen.,melys, 
C 353. O.E. msel. 

mend, v., mend, improve: 
infin., C 54. O.F. 
amender. 

menen, v., I. complainy 
lament : pret. 3 sg., 
ment, C 126. II. meany 
intend', p. p., mente, C 
458. O.E. mienan. 

menis, n., laments-, S 142. 
O.E. mene. 

menske, n., honor : S 93. 
O.N. menniska, human. 

merci, n., mercy!-, S 127J 
mersy, thanks, C 421. 
O.F. mercit, merci. 

merueilen, v., mar^eli 
pret. 3 sg., meruylled, C 
312. O.F. merveillier. 

mery, adj., merry. C 136; 
merry, C i4o,etc. jmerye, 
C^ 397- O.E. myrige. 

mes-auenter, n., misfor- 
tune-. S. 202. O.F. mes- 
aventure. 



128 



iQiosem 



mete, n.y food: S 1 33, 280, 
3i6,Vi4, 170, etc., C 22, 
139)143) etc.,-pl.,metys, 
C 118. O.E. mete. 

mete, v., meet, encounter-. 
infin., S 394, V 6; meten, 
V 7; pres. 3 pi., meten, S 
3585 pret. 3 sg., mette, 
Si57)V242j3pl.,mette, 
C 462. O.E. metan. 

me J?, n., moderation-, V 97. 
O.E. maeK 

meyd, n., maid\ C 21. O. 
E. maegeK 

mi, poss. pron., my\ S 30, 
91, etc., V 187, 193, 
etc. 5 my, C 125, 1735 
mine, S 311, 405, V 100, 
160, 182; before vowels 
or h-, min, S 40, 293, 
etc., V 1855 myn, C 344, 
357, 431. O.E. mm. 

mid, prep., nxjith-. S 93, 

159) Y 14) 30) SS-> 62, 

725 mit, S 289. O.E. 

mid. 
mi3t, n. , might : dat. , mi^tte, 

S 253, 4055 my^ht, C 12. 

O.E. miht. 
mikel, adj. & adv., see 

muchel. 
milde, adj., mild: S. 159. 

O.E. milde. 
mile, n., mile: pi., an hon- 



dred mile, S 104. O.E. 

mil. 
mis, v., miss, lose: infin., 

S 144. O.E. missan. 
misdede, n., misdeeds: pi., 

V 182. O.E. misdied. 
mi-selue, reflex, pron., my- 

self: S 1835 miself, S 
184; my-selue, /, myself, 
C 351, 427. Originally 
me-self. 
misferen, v., to go astray, 
transgress, do njurong: 
pret. 2 sg., misferdest, 

V 212. O.E. misferan. 
mo, adj. & adv., more, 

greater: V 145, 204, C 
82, 4585 more, S 103, 
265, V 206, C 366, 369; 
mour, C 13, 149, 222, 
224, 225, 226, etc. O. 
E. ma, mara. 

mod, n., mood, heart, frame 
of mind: S 1 09, 113, 181, 
etc.; mode, C 54, 303, 
312. O.E. m5d. 

modi, 2id]., proud: S 3, 348, 
417. O.E. modig. 

mold, n., earth: C 285. 
O.E. molde. 

mon, indef. pron., one: S 
131. O.E. man. See me. 

mon, n., see man. 

mon, v., must : pres. i sg.. 



i&loi&m 



129 



5 182. O.N. monn, ist 

6 3rd sing., mon, mun. 
moti) n., moan: ace, mon, 

C 107 ; ace, mone, C 
84. Cf. O.E. msenan, v. 

moni, see many. 

more, adv., see mo. 

morne, n., morris morning: 
C 241. O.E. morgen. 

most, adj. & adv., most, 
greatest: C 485 moste, C 
413. O.E. msest. 

mote, v., may, must: pres. 
I sg.,mote, C 538; 2 sg., 
most, S 437, V 207, 208} 
3 sg., mot, S 233; mote, 
C 362; pres. subj. i sg., 
mote, S 1 16; 3 sg., mote, 
S 212. O.E. mot. 

moue, v., see mai. 

mou^ht, see mai. 

mour, see mo. 

mourne, Vc, care, nvorry, 
mourn: infin., S 148. Oo 
E. murnan. 

mournyng, v. n., mourn- 
ing: C I2I» 

moute, see mai. 

mouJ?e, n., mouth: V loo; 

mouthe, C 209, O.Eo 

muK 
much, adv., see mikel. 
muchel, adj. & adv., much, 

great: S 140, 175, 227, 



305, 443, V98;muchele, 
S 153, 1635 mikel, S 
194, 265, 3125 mych, C 
79 5 myche, C 426; 
mekyll, C 12, 84, 94, 
107, etc.; mykyll, C 
488. O.E. mycel, micel. 

mustart, n., mustard: S 
280J mustard, S 287. O. 
F. mostarde. 

myche, see muchel, 

my^ht, v., see mai. 

myght, n., see mi^tte. 

mykyll, see muchel. 

mynstralsy, n., minstrelsy: 
C 99. O.F. menestral- 
sie. 

mynstrellus, n. pL, min- 
strels : C 46, 49. O. F. 
menestrel. 

myrth, n., mirth, pleasure, 
joy : C91, 112, 158, etc. ; 
myrthe, C 552; pi. myr- 
thys, C 47. O.E. myrg'S, 
mirhtS. 

my-selue, see mi-selue. 

nabbe (ne + habbe), v., 

S 68, V 39o 
nai, adv., nay: S 43, 1795 

nay, V 188, C 45. O.N. 

nei. 
nakerner, n., kettle-drum 

player: pi. nakerners, C 



130 



iSioism 



loo. O. F. nacre, na- 

quere, etc. + -er, ending. 
name, n.y name: C 66, 115, 

5305 nome, S 195, V 36, 

57. O.E. nama. 
namore (na + more), adv., 

no more: S 260, V 65. 

O.E. na more, 
nay, see nai. 
ne, adv., not: S 46, etc., 

V 42, etc. j nl, S 1 5 7. O. 
E. ne. 

ne, conj., nor: S 39, 48, 
etc., V 5, 146, etc., C 
20, 27, etc. O.E. ne. 

nedde (ne+hadde): V 100, 
169, 2865 neddi (ne + 
hadde + I), V 99. 

nede, n., need: S 163, 210, 

V 225, 276, C 4385 at 
nedys, C 8. O.E. nied. 

ne-hond, adv., almost, 
nearly: C 70. M.E. neih 
hond, Ancr. Riwle, etc. 5 
nerehond, nerhond. Cur- 
sor Mundi, etc. 

nei, ney, adv. , nigh : S 3 1 o, 

V 32, etc. ; ny, C 222. 
O.E. neah. 

nei^ebore, n., neighbor: V 
115. O.E. neahgebun 

nelde, n., old wuoman: S 
173, 217,232, 249, 371, 
385,415,436 See Notes. 



nelle (ne + wille): S48, V 
1885 neltou (ne + wilt 
+ )?ou), V 1895 nul (ne 
+ wil), S 3145 nulli 
(ne + will + I), S 2955 
nolde (ne + wolde), V 
161. 

ner, adv., near: V 38. O. 
E. near. 

nere, adv., nearer: C 343. 
O.E. nearra. 

neren (ne + weren), S 274. 

nes (ne -|- wes), V 2. 

nesten, v., build a nesti 
pres. 2 sg., nestes, V 48. 
O.E. nist(i)an. 

ne}?er . . . ne, conj., neither 
. . . nor: C 250, 474. 

neuede (ne + heuede), v. : 
S II, V 98. 

neuere, adv., ne^er: S 100, 

V 3, 485 neuer, C 341, 

V 145, 198; newer, S 
118. O.E. niefre. 

neuer-}?e-les, conj., never- 
theless: C 443. 

new, adj., neijo: pL, C 379. 
O.E. niwe. 

newyng, n., novelty: C 

381. 

ni^t, n., night: S 150; ni^te, 

V I II 5 ny^ht, C 30 ; 
nyght, C 161, 307. O. 
E. niht. 



«lo00ar^ 



131 



nimen, v., take: pret. 3 
sg., nom, V 78J p. p., 
nomen, V 250. O. E. 
niman. 

nis (ne + is), V 145, 164. 

nist (ne + wist), see wot. 

no, adj. & adv., no: S 71, 
122, 148, 196, 305, C 
20, 34, 45, 82, etc.; non, 
S 65, 136, V 42, 146, C 
319, 321, 361J none, S 
245, V 3, 84 ; nones, V 
294. O.E. nan. 

nobull, adj., noble-. C 521. 
O.F. noble. 

noen, see none. 

nolde, v., see nelle. 

nom, see nimen. 

nome, see name. 

nomon (no + man), n. : S 
342. O.E. nan mon. 

non, pron., none-. S 11, 66, 
129, 324 (?), V 160, C 
8, 14, 26, 27, etCc O.E. 
nan. 

none, n., noon-. C 88, 258; 
noen, S 433 ; to non, S 
324 = 'until noon."* 
O.E. non. 

nones-kunnes, adj., no 
kind of'. V 294. 

not (ne + wot), v., knoujs 
not', pres. 3 sg., S 305, 
V 160. O.E. ne + wat. 



not, adv., not: C 46, 50, 

etc., see nout, noui3t. 
nofer . . . ne, conj., neither 

. . c nor : C 116, see 

nej?er . . . ne, noufer 

. . . ne. 
no-J?ing, n., nothing-. S 44, 

352, V 183, 253J no- 

thyng, C 428. 
notys, n., (?): C loi. See 

Notes. 
nou, adv,, nouw. S 145, 

279> ^85, 424, V 106, 

1525 now, C 136, 145. 

O.E. nu. 
nou, conj., nonjothat'. 858, 

O.E. nil. 
noui^t, not at all-. S 565 

nought, C 127, 210, 284, 

401. O.E. na -}- wiht. See 

nout. 
nout, adv., not: S 38, 68, 

229, 2435 nohut, V 220. 

Oo E. na-w^ihto See 

noui^to 
nout, indef., naught, no^ 

thing'. S 47, 48, 206, V 

39, 775 nought, C no; 

nou^t, C 275; now^ht, 

C 305; no^ht, C 514. 

O.E. na + wiht. 
noufe, advo, no^w\ V 55, 

99. O.E. nu + \>2l. 
nouj^er . . . ne, conj., nei- 



132 



iSAo&&m 



ther . . . nor\ S 308, 372, 
V 5; noJ?er . . . ne, C 
116. See nej?er o o . ne. 
O.E. ne + asgber. See 
ne)?er, nofefo 

now, see noUo 

nowylte, r\,^nouelty : C 2 1 7. 
O.F. novelte. 

nu, see nou. 

nul, nulli, see nelle. 

ny, see nei. 

nyght, see ni3t. 

of, prep., of, from\ S 4, 
77, etc., V 26, etc., C 
4, 9, 56, 60, (>S, 102, 
etc.; hof, S 2, V 295; 
off, C 2, 29, 99,100,101, 
102, no, etc. 5 from, S 
189, V 56, 267, C 134; 
for, C III, 191, 410; 
of me I-don hit hiis = * it 
is all up with me,' V 106. 
O.E. of. 

of, adv., off'. S 335. O.E. 
of 

offycers, n., officer-, sing,, 
C 293. O.F. officier. 

ofseen, v., see, observe-. 
pret. 3 sg., ofsei, V 10. 
O.E. ofseon. 

of-slyfe, v., slice off, sli^e 
(see Jos. Wright) : infin. , 
C 2140 O.E. (to) slifan. 



ofte,adv., oftemW 35, 185, 
210, etc. O.E. oft. 

ofte-tyme, adv., often: C 
488. 

of-J?inken, V. impers., cause 
regret, repent-, pres. 3 sg., 
of-HnkeK V 205. O.E. 
of|?yncanc 

old, adj.,o/^: S 199,0 517; 
olde, C 332; holde, S 
302, 331; hold, C 566. 
O.E. eald. 

oldest, v., see holden. 

omnipotent, adj.: C 179. 
O.Fo omnipotent. 

on, prep., on-. S 16, 47, 
102, etc., C 85, 153, 
169, etc. J onne, C 80, 
i93> 372, 378jhon, Si8j 
on \>3X, on condition that, 
S 38; on ende, to an end, 
S 3625 on hey, abo've, V 
3I0 O.E. on. 

on, indef. art., see a. 

on, pron., one: S 2; one, 
C 13, 423. O.E. an. 

one, num., one: V 7, C 75, 
81, 209, etc.; on, V 198 
O.E. an. 

oneth, adv., not easily: C 
78. OoE„ unease. 

onwis, adj., unnvise: S 218, 
445; ounwis, S 117. 
O.E. unwis. 



^lofiigar^ 



133 



on-wold, v., ^wifld, con- 
trol: infin., S 311. O.E. 
anweald, anwald, n. 

opdrowe, v., dranju up: 
pret. 3 pi., V 287. 0,E„ 
dragan, drog, droh, dro- 
gon, dragen. 

ope, adv., open: V 27. O.E. 
open. 

oppon, prep., upon: S 204, 
345. O.E. uppon. 

opward, adv., on the <way 
up : V 242. O.E. up- 
weard. 

opwinde, v., nvind up: in- 
fin., V 75. O.E. windan. 

or, conj., or: C 35, 348, 
358, etc. J our (most fre- 
quent form in C), 55, 
226, etc. See oJ?er, 

ore, n. , grace yfa^or : V 1 8 9 . 
O.E. ar. 

ojer, conj., or: S 133, 183, 



3953 



52= 



120, 



208, 



etc. ; oJ>er . . . oj^er, either 
. , . or,V 14. O.E. ah- 
W3e}>er, aw)?er. See or. 

ofer, adj., other, second: 
S 136, V 76, C 53, 319, 
321 5 pi., o>re, V 217. 
O.E. oJ>er. 

oJ?er-weys, adv., other- 
nvise: C 321. 

ou, pron., see ^e. 



ou, 2idLv,yhonv: V 230. See 

hou. 
ouene, adj., oivn: S 421; 

houne, S 390. O.E. agen. 
ouer, prep., o^er: V 22. 

O.E. ofer. 
ouer, possc pron., our: C 

218, 221, 376. O.E. 

ure. See oure. 
ouer-al, adv., e^erynjohere: 

V 9, 19, 69, etc, O.E. 
ofer eall. Cf. Mod. 
Germ. uheralL 

ouer-gon, v., pass: p. p., 

ouer-gon, C 182} pret. 

3 sg., ouer-hede, V 90. 

O.E. ofergan, ofereode. 
ouer-hede, see ouer-gon. 
ou^ht, n., aught, anything; 

C 34. O.E. aht, awiht. 
ounder, prep., under: V41, 

47, 51. O.E. under. 
ounderfonge, v., recei've: 

infin., V 196; pres. 2 sg., 

ounderfost, S 378. O.E. 

underfon. 
ounseli, adj., unhappy^ 

miserable, kicked: S 98. 

O.E. unsielig. 
ounwis, see onwis. 
oup, adv. , tt/> : V 246 J houp, 

V 126. O.E. up, upp. 
our, conj., see or. 

oure, poss. pron., our\ 



134 



^lo00ar^ 



S 75, etc., V 54; houre, 
S 31, 89, 236, 408, 

V 35? 59- O-E. ure. See 
ouer. 

OUS, pers. proci., us: S 905 

vs, C 1405 hous, S 220. 

0=E, us. See we. 
out, advo, out'. S 345, 441, 

C 3 60 J oute, C 348; 

houte, S 79. O.E. ut. 
oute, Vo, ought (?): pret. 

3 sgo, C 63. O.E. ahte. 
out of, prepc, out of:S 347, 

V 1, 109, C 174, 295, 
457. O.Eo ut of. 

palferey, n., palfrey, C 

250. O.F. palcfrei, 
palle, n., a costly cloth i S 

23. O.E. pgell. 
palys, n., palace: C 181. 

F. palais. 
pannyer, n. , pannier, bread 

basket: C 242, 244, 323, 

373; panyer, C 230. F. 

panier. 
paradiis, n., paradise: V 

140. OoF. paradis. 
paramour, adv. , fervently : 

C 501. OoE. paramour. 
parlere, n., room for con- 

^ersation, parlor: C 481. 

O.F. parloir. 
par ma fai, French form of 



asseveration, by my faith*, 

S 436. 
parte, n.,/><2r/: C 286, 317. 

F. part. 
parte, v., divide: infin., C 

350. F. partir. 
pas, n., stepy gait: C 292. 

O.F. pas. 
pater-noster, n., Lord's 

Prayer: S 209. Lat. 
pay, n., pleasure y taste ^ 

satisfaction: C 48, 144. 

O.F. paie. 
pay, v., pay: infin., C 430, 

449; prct. 3 sg., payd, 

C 509; pret. 3 pi., payd, 

C 563. O.F. paier. 
Pendragoun, pr. n. : C 4. 
penes, n. pi., pence: S 274. 

O.E. penning, pening. 
pepir, n., pepper: S 279. 

O.E. pipor. 
pes, n.,/>^<2c^: C546. O.F. 

pais, 
peyn, n., pain: C 176. 

O.F. peine. 
pikes, n., pikes: pi., V 62, 

284. O.E. pic. 
pilche, n., fur garments: 8 

225. O.E. pilece, pylce. 
pine, n., pain, trouble: S. 

305, V 142= O.E. pin. 
place, n., place: C 105. F, 

place. 



iSAo&&KVS 



13s 



plaie, v., play: infin., S 

438; pley, C 160. O.E. 

plegian. 
plente, n., plenty, C 24, 

225. O.F. plente. 
plenyng, v. n. , lamentation : 

C. 2 2 1 . O.F. plaign-. 
pley, see play, 
pli^tte, v., plight', S 252. 

O.E. ^\\\it, pledge. O.E. 

plihtan. 
plukken, v., pluck, pull: 

pret. 3 sg., plukyd, C 

338. O.E. pluccian. 
pore, adj., poor: C 32, 35, 

260, etc. O.F. povre. 
porter, n., doorkeeper: C 

262; pourter, C 277. 

O.F. portier. 
pouerte, n., poverty : S 

304, C 17, 191, 252, 

540. O.F. poverte. 
pound, n., pound: S 224; 

pL, pownd, C 555. O.E. 

pund, pL, pund. 
pourtenans, n., appurte- 
nances: n. pL, C 545. 

O. F. apartenance, etc. ; 

aphetic, partenance, see 

Godefroy. 
praere, n., prayer: C 195. 

O.F. preiere. 
pray, v., pray: pres. i sg., 

C 138, 272 J prete 3 sg., 



prayd, C 170, 175, 189; 

asked f inquired, C 508. 

O.F. preier. 
present, n.,^/// -.0274,281, 

3945 presante, C3045 pre- 

sant, C 334; presente, C 

371, 385. O.F. present. 
presente, y,, present, offer i 

infin., C 2345 pret. 3 sg., 

presente, C 492. O. F. 

presenter. 
presentyng, v. n., present 

making: C 410. 
prest, n,, priest: V 52, 

1935 pi. prestes, S 248. 

O.E. preost. 
presyng, v. n., pressings 

urging: C 300. M.E. ver- 
bal noun. In N,E.D, 

from 1400 on. 
pride, n., see prude, 
pris, n. , high esteem, 'worthy 

price, 'value: S 120, 446. 

O.F. pris. 
priuite, n., prinjacy: S 84. 

O.F. privite. 
profer (en), v., /)ro/>r: pret. 

3 sg., proferd, C 371. 

A.F. profre. 
proud, adj., proud : S 3. 

O.E. prut. 
prude, n., pride: S 1255 

pride, C 79, 96. O.E. 

pryte. 



136 



iSAofSiSim 



putte, n., ///, 'weli: V 71, 
113, 117, 119, 241, 
etc.; put, V 261. O.E. 
pyt. 

pypers, n., pipers: C 100. 
O.E. pipere. 

pytewysiy, Rdv.y piteously: 
C 108. O.F. pitos, pi- 
teus. 

qued, n., e^il: V 210J 
quede, V 224. Early 
M.E. cwead, cwed,cwad. 

qued, adj., e^il: V 200. 

quelle, v., infin., kill: S 
183. O.E. cwellan. 

quen, n., queen: C 389. 
O.E. cwen. 

quod, v., quoth, said: pret. 
3Sg.,S27,V33, 53, 118, 
127, 199, 207, 221, etc.; 
qua>, V 37, 96; quoK 
C 145. O.E. cwseK 

quyte, v., free, release: 
infin., C 72; refl., to 
acquit oneself ^welly do 
one's party C 63. O.F. 
quiter. 

radde, v., see rede, 
ragges, n. pi., rags: C 

359. Cf. O.E. raggig, 

adj., shaggy, 
ra]>e, adv., soon: S 226; 



compar. ral>er, sooner^ 

before, V 68. O.E. hraj>e. 
raw3ht, see recche. 
recche, v., reck, r<2r^:pres. 

I sg., recche, V 228; 

pret. 3 sg., route, V 260. 

O.E. recan. 
recche, v., reach, come: 

infin., V 268 ; pret. 

3 sg., raw^ht, reached, 

caught, C 196. O.E. rse- 

can. 
recche, v. , expound, preach : 

infin., V 268. O.E. rec- 

can. 
red, n., counsel, advice: S 

3^8, 350, 378; rede, V 

50; reed, V 192. O.E. 

r«d. 
rede, v., counsel, advise: 

pres. I sg., rede, S 375, 

C 129, 133, etc.; pres. 

subj. 3 sg., rede, V 130, 

149, 246; pret. 3 sg., 

radde, S 152, 185. O.E. 

rJedan. 
redi, adj., ready: S 434; 

redy, C 22, 168. Cf. 

O.E. riede, or ger§ede. 
rehete, v., cheer, comfort: 

infin., C 19. O.F. re- 

heter. 
relesen, v., relish: pret. 

3 sg., relesyd, C 211. 



&\osi(m 



137 



See reles, n., /laste, 

aftertaste^ impression^ in 

N,E.D. 
rene, v. , run : infin. , S 2 8 1 . 

O.E. rinnan. 
Reneuard, pr. n. : V 133. 
renning", n., running', S 

283. O.E, aerninge. 
renoune, n., renonjun: C 5. 

O.F. renon. 
rente, n., rent, income \ C 

555. O.F. rente. 
repent, v., repent', pres. 

I sg., C434. F. repentir. 
rerde, n., speech: V 114. 

O.E. reord. 
reste, n., rest: S 11, 291. 

O.E. rest. 
reue, n., ree^ue: V 26. 

O.E. gerefa. 
reuell, n., re^el: C 482. 

O.F. revel, 
reuliche, adv., sadly, pite- 

ously: S 302, V 107. O. 

E. hreowlic. 
reufe, n., /)//);: S 318. O. 

E. hreovs^, adj. 
rew, v., rue, pity: infin., 

C 269} imper. 2 sg., rew, 

S 1 145 impers. reflex. pres. 

3 sg., rewej?, S 235. O.E. 

hreow^an. 
rewerd, v., reivard: pres. 

subj. 3 sg., C 364. O.N. 



F. rewarder. O.F. re- 

guarder, regarder. 
rewerd,n.,r^'X(;^r^: C449, 

524. O. N. F. reward. 

O.F. reguard, regard. 
ribe, n., r;^: V 41. O.E. 

ribb. 
riche, adj., rich: S 21, etc. 5 

ryche, C 35, 43, 3275 

rych, C 51, 52, 61, 118. 

O.E. rice, 
ri^t, adv., right, straight, 

exactly: V 2745 ^y^ht, C 

9> 36,4775iyght, C165, 

254, 468. O.E. riht. 
ringe, v., ring: infin., V 

251. O.E. hringan. 
ro, n., rest, quiet: S 291. 

O.E. row. 
robys, n., robes: pi., C 52. 

O.F. robe. 
rode, n., rood, cross: S 323; 

C 57, 306, 3365 roed, S 

254. O.E. rod. 
Rome, pr. n. : S 105. 
ronde, adj., round: C 9, 

201. O.F. roonde. 
rong, v,,rung: pret. 3 sg., 

C 163. O.E. hringan. 
ros, v., see ryse. 
roune, n., colloquy, counsel: 

S 71. O.E. run. 
route, n., throng, company: 

C 267. O.F. route. 



138 



&\o&&m 



route, v., see recche. 

ryall, adj., royal: C 392. 

O.F. real, rolal. 
ryalty, n., royalty , munifi- 

cence:C j^. O.F. realte. 
rych, ryche, see riche. 
ryches, n., riches-. C 568. 

F. richesse. 
ryde, v., ride I'mfin.y C 249, 

474. O.E. ridan. 
ryfe, adj., speedily ^ quickly 

(See N.E.D,, B. 4) : C 

180. O.E. rif. 
ryght, ry^ht, see t'^t. 
ryse, v., arise: infin., C 

1 97 J pret. 3 pL, ros, C 

167. O.E. risan. 

sale, V. , say: infin. , S 2, 5 5 ; 
saien, S 495 sugge, V 
207;suggen,V265j sey, 
C 45, 67, etc. 5 pres. i 
sg., saie, S 1435 pres. 
2 sg., seist, S 61; pres. 3 
sg., sei^, S 1795 sei)?, S 
3035 seyth, C 2485 pres. 
subj. 2 sg., saie, S 4355 
imper. 2 sg., sei, V 2295 
say, V 121; pret. 3 sg., 
saide, S 1875 sede, V 
129, 150; seide, V 226, 
269; seyd, C 125, 176, 
etc.; pret. 3 pL, seide, 
V 211; seyd, C 521 ; 



p. p., said, S 26 8j sehid, 

V 210; I-seyd, C 484; 

pres. 2 sg., seist on, 

attribute sty S 198. O.E. 

secgan. 
sake, n., sake: V 44, C 

416. O.E. sacu. 
same, n., shames dishonor: 

S 55, 128; scham, S 126; 

shame, S 251; shorn e, S 

196, 216, 247; V35, 58, 

99. O.E. sceamii. 
saue, v., sa've: pres. subj, 

3 sg., C 416. O.F. sau- 

ver. 
saulys, see soule. 
saute, v., reconcile^ bring 

to terms: infin., S 220; 

p. p. (as adjective), saut, 

S 222. O.E. sahtlian. 
sautrey, n., psaltery: C 

102. O.F. psalterie. 
sauyoure, n., Sa'vior: C 

376. O.F. sauveour. 
sawe, n., saying, ^wordsi 

S 57. O.E. sagu. 
scafe, n., /^^rzw: S 235. O. 

E. scea'Sa. 
schake, v., slip awuay^ 

infin., C 58. O.E. scacan. 
schall, schuld, etc., see 

sha4« 
scham, see same, 
sche, pers. pron., she: Cx^, 



&\o&6m 



139 



123, 124, 149, etc.; 
dat., hyr, C 1465 gen. 
(poss.), hyr, C 243. See 
hoe. 

schen, adj., bright: C 388. 
O.E. sclr. 

schewe, see schowe. 

schofe, v., shonje-. infin., C 
360. O.E. scufan. 

schowe, v., shonju, re^veal-. 
infin., S 69 ; schew, C 
2 1 5 J pret. 3 sg. , schewyd, 
C 374. O.E. sceawian. 

schulder, n., shoulder-. C 
476. O.E. sculdor. 

sclepen, v., sleep-, pret. 3 
pi., sclepyd, C 163. O. 
E. slsepan. 

scorne, n., scorn-. C 402. 
O.F. escome. 

se, v., see: infin., se, S 165, 
340; sen, S 278; pres. i 
sg.,se, S 3195 2 sg., I- 
siist, V 232; 2 pi., se, C 
127; pret. I sg., I-seie, 
V 218; sey (MS. ley), V 
216; 3 sg., I-sey, V 280; 
saw, C 341, 361, 379; 
sei, V 281; sey, C 311, 
319; p. p., se, C 205; 
sene, C 212. O.E. seen, 
geseon. 

secc, adj., see selk. 

sechen, v., seek: pret. 3 



sg., sought, C448; p.p., 
sought, C 206; scut, S 
423. O.E. secean. 

sehid, v., see saie. 

seke, adj., sick: V 41 j sek, 
S 199. O.E. seoc. 

seknesse, n., sickness: S 
200. O.E. seocnes. 

seli(wif), adj., good njoo- 
man: S 315, 337. O.E. 
(ge) sSlig. 

selk, adj., such: S loi; 
secca, S 83; silk, S 1985 
sulke a, S 264; selke 
a, S 313J sych, C 55, 
59, etc., sych a, C 235; 
451. O.E. swilc, swelc. 

sellen, v., sell: p. p. sold(e), 
C 74, 93. O.E. sellan. 

sembly, adj., seemly: C 6; 
compar. semblyer, 27. 
O.N. soemiligr. 

send, v., send: infin., C 
573; pres. subj. 3 sg., 
sende, S 236; pret. 3 sg., 
send, C 386, 523; sente, 
C 192, 3775 p. P-, send, 
S 214^ 412; sente, C 
231. O.E. sendan. 

senne, see sunne. 

sente, v., assent: pres. i 
sg. , sente, C 2 8 9 . Cf. as- 
sent. 

sep, see shep. 



140 



Slosant^ 



serewe, n., sorronv, care, 
grief: S 1825 sereue, S 
1 86 J sorrow, C 94, 128, 
etc. O.E. sorh, sorg, 
dat., sorge. 

serteyn (?): C 162. 

serue, v . , ser^e : pres. 2 sg. , 
seruest (affter), earnest^ S 
197,- pret. 3 sg., siruyd, 
C 53 5) P- P-> serued, C 
391. O.F. servir. 

seruys, n., service: C 164, 
178. O.F. service. 

sese, v., cease: imper. 2 
sg., C 303. O.F. cesser. 

seth, conj., since-. C 213, 
342; seth J>at, C 427. 
O.E. si'StSan. 

setten, v., set, put: infin., 
S 625 pret. 3 sg., sete, C 
62; p. p., sett, seated'. 
C 481. O.E. settan. 

sey, see saie. 

seynt, n., saint: C 265, 
432. O.F. seint. 

shal, v., shall, ought: pres. 
I sg., S 50, etc. 5 schall, 
C 266, 270, etc.; 2 sg., 
shalt, S 118, 165, etc., 
V235jschall, C 263, 269, 
etc. ; 3 sg. , shal, S 1 1 1 , 
etc. ; I pi., schall, C 225, 
236; 2 pi., schall, C I, 
233; 3pl., shulen, S275, 



43 8 J pret. I sg., schuld, 
C 350, 35i> etc. 5 3 sg., 
schuld, C 1 3 6, 2 8 2 ; 3 pi. , 
shulden, V 264, 268 ; 
schuld, C 3 6, 44, etc. ; 
pret. subj. i sg., schulde, 
S 59, V 138; 2 sg., shul- 
dest, S 432; scholdest, V 
136, i8oj shuldich (shul- 
de 4- ich), V 163, 181; 
shuldi (shuld-f I) S 106. 
O.E. sceal, scealt, sculon, 
sceolde, etc. 

shame, see shome. 

shenden, v., disgrace, con- 
found : p. p. , shend, S 3 46 ; 
I-shend, S 213. O.E. 
scendan. 

shep, n., sheep: pi., V 167, 
203; sep, S 272. O.E. 
sceap, seep. 

sheppen, v., create :^xQt. 3 
sg., shop, S 354. O.E. 
scieppan, scippan. 

shiling, n., shillings: pi., 
S 270. O.E. scilling. 

shome, see same. 

shon, n., shoes: S 225. 
O.E. sceo, scoh; pi., 
sceos, scos. 

shop, see sheppen. 

shuldi, see shal. 

Sigrim, pr. n. : V 128. 

sike, v., sigh y groan: infin., 



^logtfar^ 



141 



S2 6o,*sIken, V 195; pres. 

part., syjeng, C 98, 108, 

354. O.E. sican. 
siker, adj., certain^ secure: 

S 240, V 585 sykerly, 

adv., C 219, 315. O.E. 

sicor. 
silk, see such, 
singe, v., sing: infin., S 

401, V 2525 syng, C 104. 

O.E. singan. 
sinke, v., sink: infin., V 

80, 239. O.E. sincan. 
sire, n., lordy husband^ sir: 

S 75> y 375 sir, C 127. 

O.F. sires, sire. 
Siriz, pr. n. : S 154, 161, 

418, 420; Siri)>, S 221, 

268, 297. 
si}?, n.ytime: S 258. O.E. 

si>. 
sitten, v., sit: infin., S 505 

site, S308; sitte, V 2815 

sytte, C 5205 imper. 2 

sg. , site, S 2 8 J pret. 3 sg. , 

sat, V 30, 1 1 75 pret. 3 pi., 

seten, V 32. O.E. sittan. 
skil, n., rig/it: S 52; skyll, 

C 165. Icel. skil. 
sleie, adj., j/y, shre^wd: S 

1595 sley, V 262. O.N. 

sliegr. 
slep, n., sleep: V 267. 

O.E. slaep. 



slete, v., ////, bait: infin., 

V 289. O.E. slltan. 
slo, v., slay^ kill: infin., 

slo, S 184} p. p., slain, 

S 310. O.E. slean. 
smal, adj., small: V 248; 

pL, smale, V 155. O.E. 

smael. 
smere,adv. j/ror/z/i^/Zy : V2 3. 

Cf. Bradl.-Stratm. Diet, 
smertly, adv., quickly: C 

263, 266, 310. O.E. 

smeart, adj. 
smite, v., smite: pret. subj. 

3 sg., S 335. O.E. smi- 

tan. 
so, adv., so : S 12, etc., 

V 2, etc., C 15, 77, etc. 
O.E. sw^a. 

so, conj., so that, until: C 
67,V 10; in asseverations, 
S26, 116, 133, 273,433, 

V 149, C416, 419,4255 
correlative, as , , , as, S 
156. O.E. swa. 

sohute, seesou3ht, sechen. 
solas, n., solace: C 519. 

O.F. solaz. 
sold, see sellen. 
solen, adj., (?) alone (?) (so 

expl. by Maetzn,): S 238. 

O.F. solain. 
som, adj., some, some kind 

of: V i8j soum, V 104; 



142 



(&10&&UV^ 



somme, V 192; soumme, 

V 125. O.E. sum. 
somer, n., summer-. S 294. 

O.E. sumor. 
somer, adv., sumpter 

horse (?) : S 247. See Notes, 
som-tyme, adv., a certain 

timey once-. C 494, 533. 
SOTJ\~V7hdit^2id.Y.ySomenAjhat'. 

C 147, 561. O.E. sum + 

hwaet. 
sonde, n., message: Cm. 

O.E. sand, sond. 
sone, adv., at once: S 246, 

262, 376, V 52, 61, 235, 

C 89, 238, 278, 337. 

O.E. sona. 
sone, n., son-, S 167, 194, 

V 199; son, C243, 253, 
323. O.E. sunne. 

sore, adv., muchy njery^ 
greatly. ^ dSy 190, 205, 
240, C 95, 98, 106, etc. 
O.E. sar. 

sori, adj., sorronjufuli S 
338, 344. O.E. sarig. 

sorow, seeserewe. 

so]?, n., truth: V 121, 129, 
157, etc.; soth, C 67, 
157? ^5^' O.E. soK 

soJ?liche, adv., truly: S 
391. O.E. soWice. 

sought, see sechen. 

soule, n., soul: S 213, 314, 



V 252; gen., soul, V252; 

pi., saulys, C 575. O.E. 

sawel, etc. 
soule-cnul, n., soul-knell:V 

251. 
sout, see sechen. 
sowne, n., sound: C 98. 

F. son. 
spare, v., spare: infin., C 

2105 pres. subj. 2 sg., 

spare, S 443. O.E. spar- 

ian. 
speche, n., speech: V223. 

O.E. sp§ec, spraec. 
sped, n., success: S 141. 

O.E. sped, 
spede, v., prosper ^ succeed: 

infin., S 131, 212, 449; 

pres. subj. 3 sg., spede, 

C 419* 4255 P- P-, sped, 
S 410. O.E. spedan. 

speken, v., speak: infin., 
S 81, etc., V 170; speke, 
C 383; pres. I sg., speke, 
S 3555 pret. 3 sg., spac, 
S 331; spake, C 406; 
spak, V65J p. p., speken, 
S 216. O.E. sprecan. 

spel, n., story: S 62. O.E. 
spel. 

spendyd, v., spent: p. p., 
C 68. O.E. spendan. 

speres, n., spears: pi., V 
292. O.E. spere. 



&lo&iiavs 



H3 



spesyally, adv., especially. 

C 508. O.F. especial. 
spille, v., ruin-. S 233, 

432. O.E. spillan. 
splen, n., spleen-. V 47. 

Lat. splen. 
spouse^ n., spouse, njoife-. 

S 91. O.F. espouse. 
spryng, v., spring-, infin., 

C 232. O.E. springan. 
spytously, adv., angrily-. 

C 262. O.F. despit. 
squyre, n., squire-. C 398, 

553, 560; pL, squyres, 

C 16. O.F. esquire. 
srift,n.,/^r///: V 186, 196. 

O.E. scrift. 
sriue, v., shri<ve\ infin., 

V 1845 P- P-> I-sriue, 

V 176. O.E. scrifan. 
sroud,n., dress: S 6. O.E. 

scrud. 
srud, v., clad-, p. p., S 23. 

O.E. scrydan. 
staff, n., staff: C 247, 

251, 2945 pL, staues, V 

62, 284, 292. O.E. staef. 
standyng, see stond. 
stark, adj., strong, large: 

S 223. O.E. stearc. 
statour, n., stature: C 

105 stature, C 498. F. 

stature. 
staues, see staff. 



sted, n., steid, horse: C 

250. O.E. steda. 
stel, n., steel: S 95. O.E. 

style. 
stere, v., control, steer: in- 
fin., C 150. O.E. steo- 

ran. 
sterten, v., start: pret. 3 

sg., sterte, C 325, 337. 

O.N. sterta. 
steruen, v., die: pret. 2sg., 

storue, V 1 5 1 . O.E. steor- 

fan. 
stewerd, n., stenxjard: C 

3^5>337, 367,448, 451, 
523, etc. 5 stuerd, C 547. 
O.E. stiward. 

stinken, v., stink: pret. 3 
sg., stank, V 94. O.E. 
stincan. 

stond, v., stand: infin., C 
2675 pres. 3 sg., stondes 
to, inclines touoard, C 
4175 pres. part., stand- 
yng, C 2945 pret. 3 sg., 
stode, C 121, 349; stod, 

V 257. O.E. standan, 
stod. 

stones, n., stones: pl.,V 62; 
ston, V 284. O.E. Stan, 
stonk, see stinken. 
storue, see steruen. 
stounde, n., time: S 419. 

V 213. O.E. stund. 



144 



^ilogfiar^ 



stoure, n., conflict: C 504. 
O.F. estour. 

strek, v., stretch', infin., S 
441. O.E. streccean. 

strengj?en, v. refl., try (to 
do something)', infin., S 
170. O.E. streng^u, n. 

strete, n., street'. S 395, V 
5. O.E. strict. 

strok, see stryke. 

stroke, n., stroke: C 4515 
pL, strokes, C 4545 
strokys, C 515. O.E. 
strican. 

strong, adj., strong: S 12, 
C 5375 pl-> stronge, V 
625 stronge, adv., strong- 
ly: V 195, 273. O. E. 
strong. 

stryffe, n., strife: C 174. 
O.F. estrif. 

stryke, v., strike^ go: pres. 
imper. 2 sg., C 456} 
pret. 3 sg., strok, V 9. 
O.E. strican, go, mo^e, 
run. 

sugge,suggen,v.,seesaie. 

sulke, see selke. 

sumdel, adv., some^what: 
V 237. O.E. sum + 
dSl. 

stynt, v., restrain: infin., 
C 183; stynte, C 129. 
O.E. styntan. 



suete, see swete. 
sueting, n., darling: S 

222. O.E. swete + M.E. 

-ing. 
sunne, n., sin: S 334, V 

1655 senne, S 194; pL, 

sunnen, V 177, 197. O. 

E. synn. 
sweren, v., snjoear: pret. 

3 sg., S 421. O.E. 

swerian. 
swete, adj., snjueet: S 127, 

etc.; suete, S 176, 195, 

C 313. O.E. swete. 
swiche, see selke. 
swikele, adj., decei'vingi 

V 86, 103. O.E. swicol. 
swin, n., sivine: S 272. O. 

E. swIn. 
swinke, n., labor: S 134, 

330, V 144. O.E. ge- 

swinc. 
swinken, v., labor, <worki 

pres. 3 sg., swinke^, S 

140. O.E. swincan. 
swife, adv., soon: S 411; 

sui>e, S 156; 'very, S 

302, V 12, 168, 190, 

262, 273; much, V 4, 

1 10. O.E. swil'e. 
swor, v., see sweren. 
swownyng, n., snjooon: C 

89. Cf. O.E. swogan, ge- 

swogung, geswowung. 



^loflfgar^ 



145 



sych, syche, see selk. 
syde, n., side-. C 80, 104. 

O.E. side, 
syght, n., sight I C 6, 27, 

296. O.E. gesiht. 
sy^eng, see sike. 
sy^hyng, n., sighing: C. 

363. O.E. sican. 
sykerly, see siker. 
syluer, n., silver: C 53, 

288. O.E. seolfor. 
symple, adj., simple, plain: 

C 261. F. simple. 
syng, see singe, 
syre, see Cleges. 
sytall, n., ciiole: C 102. 

O.F. citole. 
sytte, see sitten. 

tabull, n., table: C 9. O. 
F. table. 

take, v., take: infin., S 
106, C 128, 437} pres. 
imper. 2 sg., take, C 
2445 pret. 3 sg., toke, 
C 247, 3235 p. p., I- 
take, V 43, taken to, V 
178. O.N. taka. 

tame, adj., tame: S 200, C 
116. O.E. tam. 

tary, v., tarry, delay: pres. 
imper. 2 sg., C 356 } 
pret. 3 sg., taryd, C 
401. O.E. tergan, influ- 



enced in meaning by O. 
F. targer. 

taute, see teken. 

tayst, v., taste: infin., C 
208. O.F. taster. 

teken, n., teach, sho^w, di- 
rect: pres. 2 sg., tekest, 
S 2305 pret. 3 sg., taute, 
S 219. O.E. tiecan. 

telle,v.,/^//:infin.,Si86,V 
131, 187; tellen, S 242, 

V 206; pres. I sg., telle, 
S 387; tell, C 237, 3155 

2 sg., tellest, S 525 3 
sg., tellys, C 5325 pres. 
imper. 2 sg., tel, S 171, 

V 197 ; tell, C 530; 
pret. 3 sg., tolde, S 76; 
p. p., told, S 51. O.E. 
tellan. 

ten, v., dra^w, tug: pret. 

3 sg., tey, V 279. O.E. 
teon. 

tenandrys, n., tenancies: 
pi., C 93. O.F. tenance, 
tenanche. 

tenant, n., tenant: pL, ten- 
antes, C 19. O.F. te- 
nant. 

tene, n., vexation: S 158, 
174. O.E. teona. 

tere, n., tear: pi., teres, S 
358; terys, C 152. O.E. 
tear. 



146 



eio^sm 



tey, see ten. 

J7a, scribal error for j^at (?): 
S 140, 218. 

fan, dem. pron., see fat. 

thanke, v., thank-, pres. 
I sg., C 1115 pres. subj. 
I pL, thanke, C 2275 
pret. 3 sg., thankyd, C 
190, 5075 3 pi., than- 
kyd, C 179. O.E. ]>an- 
cian. 

farfore, see fer-fore. 

far-foru, conj., thereby. 
S 346. 

fat, dem. pron., that\ S 
139, etc., V 118, etc., 
C 28, 39, 43, 335, etc. 5 
dat., )>an, V 55, 1085 
instr., J>e, S 389, V 2025 
t>at = of that^ S 51. O. 
E. l?aet. 

fat, conj., that : S 1 1, 147, 
etc., V 42, 136, etc., 
C 206, etc.; that a, C 
236; until that^ S 51, 
299; so that, V 42, 75, 
C 75, 775 W, scribal 
error (?), S 218. O.E. 
J?ast. 

fat, rel. pron., that, njuho: 
S 21, etc., V 119, etc., 
C 2, 16, 23, 48, etc.; 
thatijohichy S 165, V 285, 
C 287, 513; l?a, scribal 



error (?), S 140; warn, 
njuhom, S 387. O.E. |>aet, 
hwam. 

fat, def. art., see fe. 

fau, conj., though: S 45, 
55j 97> 104, etc.j thoff, 
C 70. O.E. >eah. 

fe, pers. pron., see fou. 

fe, def. art., the-, nom., >e, 
S 12, etc., V 16, 19, 31, 
etc., C 49, 157, etc. 5 
the, C 25, 60, 112, 175, 
etc.; M, S 331, V 74, 
76, 94; dat., |?e, S 74, 
141, V I, II, 41, 74, 
etc., C 9, 39, etc.; ac- 
cus. or dat. (?), )?en, S 19, 
22, 299; accus., ^ene, V 
113, 126, 242, 280, 281, 
287;).at, ¥75,78. O.E. 
se, seo, haet, etc. 

the, v., prosper-, infin., C 
538. O.E. I'eon. 

theder, see fider. 

fef, n., thief: V 102. O.E. 
}?eof. 

fei, pers. pron., they, nom., 
C 3ij 35» 36, etc.; they, 
33, 87, 116, etc.; the, 
C 163, 179 ; dat., ]>tm, 
C 209, 563; l>eym, C 
515; accus. , Rm, C 43 o. 
See hy, 

fen, conj., than: S 123, 



^loiffgar^ 



147 



266,275, 426, V8. O.E. 
)>onne. 
J?ene, adv. & conj., then-. 

V 64; benne, S 331, 365, 
etc. 5 than, C 23. O.E. 
J>onne. See fo. 

J?er, adv., there-. V 92, 262, 
etc., C 82, 94, 107, 1875 
]?er,V735>ere,V94, 127, 
152, 232, 233; >are, V 
33, 1715 thore, C 4435 
thare, C 470 j ther, C 
453> 568, 576, etc. O. 
E. \>^x, 

fer, conj., ^where: S 21, 23, 
etc., V 162. O.E. )>aer. 

fer, poss. pron. , their: C 
48, 54, 167, etc. 5 ther, 
C 575. O.N. ]?eirra. See 
her. 

J7er-by, adv., thereby : C 
197. 

J?er-fore, adv. -f- conj., 
therefore-. S 196, V 202, 
C 2275 barfore, C 5805 
therfor, C 1295 J?er-for, 
C385. 

J?erinne, adv., therein: V 
28, 78, 85, 126, 234. 
O.E. |>a^rinne. 

J?er-of, adv., thereof: S 9, 

V 18, 24, 249. 
fer-on, adv., thereon: C 

2005 J?er-one, C 78. 



fer-to, adv. -f conj. , there- 
to: C II, 238, 289, 438. 

}?es, n., thighs: pi., S 441. 
O.E. >eoh. 

fefer, see J?ider. 

J?ewe, n., propriety: dat., 
S 72. O.E. beaw. 

J?i, poss. pron., thy: S 29, 
i47> V 247, C 113, 115, 
2465 Hne, S 49, 190, 
429, V 40, 134, 155, 
21 1 5 Hn, S 283, V 189, 
C 417; thy, C III, etc. 
O.E. Hn. 

fider, adv., thither: S 155, 
262, V 13, 259; Hdere, 
V 268 J >e)>er, C 1665 
theder, C 483. O. E. 
Hder. 

J?ilke {\>t + like) : S 124, 
258, 326, 419, V 148. 
O.E. Wc. 

fing, n., thing: S 32; swete 
Hng, darling, S 4255 pi., 
thinge, C 2755 thyng, 
C III; thynges, C 52, 
53. O.E. Hng. 

thinke, v., think, intend, 
remember: infin., C 496; 
pres. I sg., thynke, C 
527; pret. 3 sg., thou^t, 
C63, 182, 208; l?oute, V 
125; i>ohute, V 13. O.E. 
J?encan. 



148 



&\os&m 



}>inke}?, see J?unche. 
fis, dem. pron. & adj., 
t/iis : S 27, 217, 289, 

C 14, ii3> i35> etc. 5 
thys, C 273, 307, 341, 
4225 p]., }>es, S 275; Hs, 
C 203. O.E. ^es, ^eos, 
«is. 

J?o, conj., njoheriy then: S 
301, V 16, 23, 82, 170, 
290, etc. O.E. J>a. See 
fen. 

thoff, see }?au, 

J?ohut, n., see fout. 

J'onk, n., thanks-. V 158. 
O.E. i?anc, J>onc. 

thore, see J?er. 

}?oru, prep., through-. S 125, 
190; l^ar >oru, 346 j 
throu^he, C 391. O.E. 
]?urh. 

}?ou, pers. pron. , thou : nom. , 
S 34, 38, etc., V 35, 38, 
etc., C no, 268, 284, 
41 1 5 \>o, S287;thow, C 
263,269, 4i2,436jdat., 
KS33, 34, 37,40, 130, 
etc.jC 287; accus., }?e, S 
39> ^5^) 122, Cm, 
263, 270, 348; the, C 
436. O.E. ^u, J>e. Seefi 
and 36. 

thou3t, v., see thinke. 

thou3t, n., see fout. 



J?ousent, n., thousand: V 

203. O.E. l>usend. 
fout, n., thought: S 118, 

147, 4305 thou^t, C 128, 

1485 >ohut, V223. O.E. 

]?5ht. 
fre, num., thr^e: V 153; 

thre, C 350. O.E. )?reo. 
throu3he, see )>oru. 
thryfte, n., thrift: C 347, 

466, 478. O.N. kift. 
funche, v. impers., seem: 

infin., S 2385 pres. 3 

sg., Hnkel>, S218, 286; 

pret. 3 sg., J?oute, V 94; 

thou^t, C 516. O.E. 

J>yncan. 
J?urst, n. , thirst : S 3 1 o, 3 1 2, 

V 67. O.E. ]?urst. 
fus, adv. , thus: S 24, V 1 5 8 ; 

thus, C 64, 354. O.E. 

)>us. 
thy, see fi. 
thyng, see fing. 
]?ynke, see thinke. 
thyrd, num., third: C286, 

etc. O.E. kidda. 
thys, see J?is. 
til, prep., until: S292, 293; 

tyll, C 5735 to, S 354. 

O.N. til. 
tille, v., //// : pres. subj. 

2 sg., S 440. O.E. ti- 

lian. 



^loggar^ 



149 



timeyn., time: Si24,V263} 
tyme,C 4, 113, etc. O.E. 
tima. 

to, prep., to: S 40, etc., V 
1 7, etc., C 1 6, etc. j until, 
C 74, 163, 512, 5645 
sign of the infin., S 7, 
etc., V 6, etc., C 54, etc. 
O.E. to. 

to, adv., too: S 343, V 81, 
98, etc., C 331, 426. 
O.E. to. 

to-breke, v., break do^uutiy 
break to pieces : infin., 

V 63 j pret. part., to- 
broke, V 19. O.E. tobre- 
can. 

to-dai, n., to-day: S 316, 

404. 
togedere, adv., together: V 

156, 214, 216; together, 

C 1675 to-geder, C 462. 

O.E. to-gaedere. 
to-3eines, prep., against: 

V 95. O.E. to-geanes. 
tokenyng, token, sign: C 

220, 223, 552. O.E. tac- 

nung. 
to-morow,adv. , to-morronv : 

C 232jto-morowe,C239. 
tong, n., tongue : C 355. 

O.E. tunge. 
to ni^t, adv., to-night: V 

191. 



torn, see tourne. 

toune, n., to^wn: S 70, 347. 

O.E. tun. 
tourne, v., turn: pres. subj. 

3Sg., S 1475 imper. 2 sg. 

torn, S 109, 1 1 35 pret. 

part., tumd, S 430. O.E. 

tyrnan, turnian. 
to-werd, prep., to^ward: C 

8 8. O.E. toweard. 
traueyled, v., travelled: 

pret. 3 sg., C 16. O.K. 

travailer. 
traueyll, n., labor, jour- 
ney: C 352. O.F. travail, 
tre, n., tree: C 218, pi., 

treys, C 206. O.E. treow. 
treie, n., affliction, grief: 

S 158. O.E. trega. 
treuly, adv., truly: C 29, 

105, 1435 trewly, C 142; 

treulye, C 2-285 trew, C 

490. O.E. treowlice. 
trewe, adj., true: S 95, 

i2ij trew, C 77, 125, 

308 j compar., trewer, S 

122. O.E. treowe, trywe. 
trinyte, n., Trinity: C202. 

O.F. trinite. 
troufe, n., truth: S 252. 

O.E. treov^^. 
trouue, v., belie^ue: pres. i 

sg.,S369;2sg., troustu, 

S 370, O.E. truwian. 



150 



6log0ar^ 



trumper, n., trumpeter: p\,, 

trumpers, C loo. O.F. 

trompeor, trompere, &c. 
truse, v., pack: C 348. 

O.F. trosser, trouser. 
twake, v., tbnjuack: infin., 

C 358. O.N. l^jokka. 
twenti, num., t^uuenty: S 

270. O.E. twentig. 
two, num. , tnjuo : V 3 2, C 8 3, 

1735 tuo, V 73. O.E. 

twa. 
tyde, n., time: C 90, 188. 

O.E. tid. 
tyll, see til. 
tyne, see time. 

uaile, v., a'vaily assist: in- 
fin., S 188. O.F. valoir. 

vale"w, n., 'value: C 76. 
O.F. value. 

vansyd, \., 'advanced: pret. 
3 sg., C 569. O.E. avan- 
cer. 

vend, v., see wende. 

verament, adv., <verily, 
truly: C 189, 237. O.F. 
verablement. 

vif, n., njuoman: S 83. O.E. 
wif. 

vilani, n., baseness, shame, 
the opposite to curteisi: 
Si28 5uilani, S 250. O.F. 
vilainie. 



vilte, n., meanness, shame \ 

S 47. O.F. vilte. 
vind, \,,Jind: pres. 3 sg., 

V 253. O.E. findan. 
vn-couered, v., uncovered', 

pret. 3 sg., C 373. O.F. 

cuvrir, covrir. 
vnder, prep., under: S 5. 

O.E. under. 
vnderneth, prep., under- 
neath: C 194. 
vnto, prep., unto: C 144, 

386. 
volf, vuolf, see wolf. 
vow, n.,<i;o«u;: C 522. O.F. 

veu, vou. 
vox, XV,, fox: V I, 16, 81, 

96, 107, 113, 123, 127, 

i3i> 139, ^Sl^ 176, 188, 
196, 221, 231, 238, 239, 
242, 245, 260; wox, V 
12, 33, 37, 293. O.E. 
fox. 

vp, adv., up: C 166, 244, 
278, 310J vppe, C 97. 
O.E. lip, upp. 

vpon, prep., upon: C 57, 
218, etc. O.E. uppon. 

vpstond, v., stand up: in- 
fin., C 197. 

vs, see we. 

vsscher, w., door-keeper: C 
310, 313, 460. O.F. us- 
sier. 



(Slo00ar^ 



151 



Vter, pr. n. : C 4. 
vyset, v., ^uisit'. infin., C23. 
O.F. visiter. 

waie, n., ivay. S i ; wei, S 

395; wey, V 5, C 159, 

254. O.E. weg. 
wakese, v., gronju, njuaxi 

infin., S 182; wex, C 

151. O.E. weaxan. 
wal, n., ivall : V 10, 

19 ; walk, V 11. O.E. 

weall. 
Tvalken, v., ivalk-. pret. 3 

sg. walkyd, C 97. O.E. 

wealcan. 
wane, see J?at. 
wanten, v., njuant, lack-. 

pret. 3 pi. , wantyd, C 1 1 6. 

O.N. vanta. 
war, inter, adv., njohere-. V 

137. O.E. hwser. 
warm, adj., ivarm-. pi., 

warme, S 225. O.E. 

wearm. 
warryng, n., denying: C 

439- 
war-to, inter, adv., nvhy. 

S 313. 
waschen, v., njuash-. pret. 3 

pi., wesch, C 154. O.E. 

waescan, waxsan, etc. 
wat, inter, pron., nx)hat\ S 

29, 64, etc., V33, 152, 



etc.; what, S 172,091. 

O.E. hwaet. 
wat, rel. pron., that njuhich: 

C 126. O.E. hwaet. 
wat, indef. pron., 'what: 

V 89. O.E. hw«t. 
wat, adv., njjhy : V 163. 

O.E. hw«t. 
wat, interj. : S 235, 285. 

O.E. hwset. 
water, n., ^water: V 92, 

93, 94. O.E. waeter. 
way, see weien. 
we, interj., alas: S 115. 

O.E. wa, O.N. vei. 
we, pers. pron., <uue: C 1 39, 

141, etc. 5 ouer, C 139, 

218, 221; owre, C 143; 

vs, C 57, 140, 174, etc. 

O.E. we, ure, us. 
wedded, part, adj., ^wed- 
ded : S 8 ; wedde, S i 3 7 ; 

wedyd, C 125. O.E. 

weddian. 
wede, n., garments: pi., C 

327. O.E. wsed. 
wede, n., pledge, mortgage: 

C 62. O.E. wedd. 
weder, adv., njuhither: V 

244, 245. O.E. hwider, 

hwaeder. 
weien, v., uueigh: pret. 3 

sg., way, V 237. O.E. 

wegan. 



152 



^lossari? 



wel, B.dv.y'very much : S 1 3, 
82, 94J ^ery, V 16, 66, 
248, C 3 37J ^welly S 212, 
226, C 126, 127, 141, 
280. O.E. wel. 

welcome, adj., njuelcome-. 
S 26, 255, 425 ; wel- 
comen, S 167; compar., 
welcomore, S 426. O.E. 
wilcuma, n. 

welde, v., <TJuieUy rule: in- 
fin., S 83, 146, 325; 
pres. 3 sg., weld, C 56. 
O.E. wealdan. 

welpe, n., njuhelp: S 2875 
welp, S 372. O.E. hwelp. 

wen, conj., <ijohen\ S 198, 
V 75, 268jwenne, inter- 
rog., S 2 84,V 151 5 when, 
C 49, 88, etc. 5 when>»at, 
C 496. O.E. hwaenne, 
hwonne. 

wende, V. tr., turn-.S 118, 
151,181. O.E. wendan. 

wende, v. inter. & reflex., 
turriy ivend, go : pret. 3 
sg. , wend, S 1 7 ; wente, S 
149} wente him, S 19, 
1555 wente hire, S 406; 
pret. 3 pi., wente, C 805 
pret. part., wend, S3455 
wende, ^o«^, V 745 vend, 



come, 
wendan. 



159. 



O.E. 



wene, v., iveen, believe: 

pres. I sg. , V 1285 pret. 

I sg., wende, V 217*, 

pret. 3 sg. , wende, V 2 7 5 ; 

wend, C 405 ; pret. part., 

I-wend, V 134. O.E. 

wenan. 
wenne, n.^joy^ bliss: S 26. 

O.E. wynn. 
wepen, n., njueep: pret. 3 

sg., wep, V 1075 wepyd, 

C 95, 106. O.E. wepan, 

weop. 
wepne, n., ijoeapon: V 

286. O.E. w^epen. 
wer, conj., njuhere: S 284, 

C 47; wer |?at, C 567. 

O.E. hwser. 
were, v., <uuear: infin., C 

5545 pret. 3 pi., weryd, 

C 327. O.E. werian. 
vrerk, n.,nAjork: pl.,werkes, 

S 245. O.E. weorc. 
werld, see world, 
wer-mide, adv., ivhere- 

njuith: V 1 12. 
wern, V. denyy refuse: inf., 

0464,473. O.E.wieman. 
wernyng, v. n. , refusal i 

C 316. 
werre, n.,'zv^r: C 16. O.F. 

werre. 
wes, was, ves, were, 

weren, v., see be. 



Mo6&avt 



153 



werj>, v., see wor}>e. 

wesch, see waschen. 

weste, v., see wite. 

wex, v., see wakese. 

wey, see waie. 

what, see wat. 

what fat euer, pron., 

njohate'ver : C 364, 415. 
w^hen, see wen. 
where-for, conj. : C 510. 
w^hefer, conj., nvhether-. C 

35, 288, 308. O.E. 

hwae^er. 
who, inter, pron., ^ivho : 

C 329. O.E. hwa. 
wi, conj., HAjhy. S 64, 3155 

why, C 510. O.E. hwy. 
wicchecrafft, n., wuitch- 

craft: S 206. O.E. wicce- 

craeft. 
wiche, v., use ^witchcraft: 

infin., S 353. O.E. 

wiccian. 
widewene, n., ^widonju: 

gen. pi., widewene, V 

201. O.E. widwe, wid- 

uwe. 
wif, n., njuoman, njuife-. S 

27, 121, 315, V 154; 

wiue, V 212, 2285 wyfe, 

C 77, 83, 122, etc. 5 

wyfF, C 25; pi., wiues, 

S 303. O.E. wif. 
wiis, see wis. 



wiit, n., at;//, intelligence: 

V 70, 124. O.E. wit[t]. 
wile, conj., nx>hile: S 70, 

438. O.E. hwllum. 
wile, n., time: S 103, 444. 

O.E. hwll. 
Wilekin, pr. n. : S 43, 229, 

236, 255, 386,400, 409, 

423, 425, 427 i Wile- 
kinne, S 407. 
wille, v., ^will: pres. i sg., 
S 87, etc., V 131, 146, 
2315 wile, S 191, 241; 
wote, V 175,- wyll, C 



^39, 397i 2 sg.. 



^olt, 



S 2415 woltoce, V 196; 
wyll, C 4155 3 sg., 
wolle, S 369; wyll, C 
2875 pret. I sg., wolde, 
8334,431, V 179; wold, 
C 120, 528; 3 sg., wolde, 
S 238, V 46, 1715 wold, 
C 19, 20, 23, etc. ; 2 pL, 
wold, C 5135 3 pL, 
wold, C 46; pret. subj. 

1 sg., wolde, S 64, V 1795 

2 sg., woldest, S 172; 

3 sg., wolde, S 131, 238. 
O.E. willan. 

wille, n., ^will : S 29, etc., 
V95,96;wil, S53;wylle, 
C 407. O.E. willa. 

Willi (wille + I), S 35, 41, 
etc. 



154 



i&ioS&Rt^ 



wimmon, n., njuoman : S 
85 womon, S 1225 wi- 
mon, S 2055 pi., wim- 
men, V 85 O.E. wifman. 

winde, v. intr., nAjind, 
turriy go : infin., V 76; 
pret. 3 sg., wond, V 22. 
O.E. windan. 

winne» n., see wenne. 

wis, adj., njuise : S 45 wiis, 
V 105. O.E. WIS. 

wise, n., njjise, manner-. S 
^5> ^3- O.E. wise. 

wite, v., knonx)'. infin., S 
29, 307; pres. I sg., wot, 
S284, V 191J pret. I sg. , 
weste, S 79, 2375 pret. 
3 sg., weste, S 220, V 59, 
238 j wyst, C280. O.E. 
witan. 

witerli, adv., certainly. S 
232. O.N. vitrliga. 

wi]?, prep., njuith I S 23, 
174, etc. 5 wiz, S 162; 
with, C 54, 81, 82 5 
wyth, C 502, 5785 by 
means of, S 207; wib }>at, 
provided that, S 192, 
226, 386; tonjoard, V 
247. O.E. wib. 

with-draw, v.: infin., C 
2635 imper. 2Sg., C 332. 

wiJ>-houten, prep., nvith- 
out : S 36, 96 5 Yfi\>' 



houte, S 392 5 wi^outen, 

V 25, 1425 with-outen, 
C ^7 3) 39°) with-oute, 
C 264 5 with-outyn, C 
50, 299; with-out, C297, 
3165 with-owtyn, C 459. 
O.E. wibutan. 

wi}?inne, adv., ivithim 

V II. O.E. wiHnnan. 
wiz, prep., see wif. 

wo, inter, pron., uuho: V 

122, 127. O.E. hwa. 
wo, n., nvoe : S 303, V 2, 

53, etc., C 90. O.E. wa. 
wo, adj., ivoeful '. S 298, 

379. }>at me is wo == * I am 

sorry,' S 379. O.E. wa. 
wod, adj., mad : S 182, 

286, V 258. O.E. wod. 
wode, n., njuood, forest-. V 

I, 109. O.E. wudu. 
wold, v., see wille. 
woldi(wold-|-i), S 88,243, 

etc. 
wolf, n., nvolf -. V 108, 

118, 129, 137, 150, etc.; 

volf, V 148 ; vuolf, y 

221; wolfe, V 181. O.E. 

wulf. 
woltou (wolt -|- )>ou), V 

186, 196. 
won, n., dnjuelling : S 21. 

Cf. O.E. (ge)wuna, wu- 

nian, wunung. 



&lo&mrs 



155 



won, n., quantity, store: S 
132. 

won, adj., see wonte. 

wond, v., see winde. 

wonde, v., turn aside, hesi- 
tate : S 138, C 120. O. 
E. wandian. 

wonder, n., ^wonder-. S 
359. O.E. wundor. 

wone, n., hope, thought: C 
319. O.N. van. 

wone, n. v., d^well -. pret. 
3 sg., wonede, S 205 
pret. 3 pi., woneden, V 
262} pret. part., woned, 
accustomed, used, nx}ont, 
V 105. O.E. wunian. 
See wonte. 

wonne, v. , ^won : pret. part. , 
S 58. O.E. winnan. 

wonte, adj., njoont: C 91 5 
won, C 112. O.E. wu- 
nod. 

word, n., njuord: S 240, V 
132, C 367 5 pi., word, 
S 159; wordes, V 148, 
C406. O.E. word. 

world, n., ^world-. S 243- 
worlde, V 162, 163J 
werld, C 145 gen. sg., 
worldes, V 161. O.E. 
weorold. 

worschype, n. , ^worship, 
honor-. C 39, 56 j wyr- 



schyp, C79. O.E. wcorl>- 

scipe. 
worschypped, p. p. a., hon- 
ored : C 414. 
worse, wors, adj., ^worse, 

S 378, V 202. O.E. 

wyrs. 
worfe, v., become-, pres. i 

sg., wor^e, V 191} pres. 

3 sg., wor>, V 2985 pres. 

subj. 3 sg. , wort?e, S 2 1 3, 

V 96} pret. 3 sg., weri^, 

V 66. O.E. weor)?an. 
wose, pron., ^whoso -. S 445; 

wose-euer, S 361. Cf. 

O.E. swahwaswa. 
wot, v., see wite. 
vjow.^ w. , ^wrong-. S 96. O. 

E. woh. 
wouing, v., plying-, n., 

HAJooing'. S 125. O.E. 

wogian. 
wous, adj., ready. V 12. 

O.E. fus. 
wox, see vox. 
wraffen, v., make angry: 

infin., S 41. O.E. (ge)- 

wraHan. 
w^recche, n., njoretch: S 

^9^) 3^3>^^535 wrecke, 

V 288. O.E. wrecca. 
wrenche, n., trick, artifice: 

dat., V 84. O.E. wrenc. 
wringen, v., wing: pret. 3 



156 



€^lo00arp 



sg., wrong, C 95, 106. 

O.E. wringan. 
wrogge, n., frog-, pi., 

wroggen, V 256. O.E. 

frogga. 
wroj?, adj., angry. V 220. 
wrofe, adv., angrily, V 

291. O.E. wrat5. 
wrong, n., njurong-. S 10. 

O.E. wrang. 
wroug, see wringen. 
wrout, p.p., see wy, che. 
wyde, 2.d].,njuide: C 93. 

O.E. wid. 
wyfe, wyfe, see wif. 
wyght, adj., nimble, strong: 

C 3> 295, 537,- wy^ht, 

C 33. O.N. vigr, m., 

vigt, n. 
wylde, adj., ivild: pi., C 

116. O.E. wilde. 
wylle, n., see will, 
wyneng, v. n., ^winning, 

gain: C 317. 



wyped, v., iviped. pret. 3 
sg., C 152. O. E. wipian. 

wyrche, v., ^work, perform : 
inf., C 164J p. p., wrout, 
S 1 1 2 5 wrought, C 2 1 3 5 i- 
wrought, C 342. O.E. 
wycran. 

wyst, see wite. 

wytte, n., njutght, man: C 
521. O.E. wiht. 

Y, see wite. 

ybe, ybou^t, ydi3t, ydon, 
etc., see be, bie, di3t, 
don, etc. 

ye, demonstr. pron., instru- 
mental case: C 236. 
O.E. ^e, by. 

y^oue, v., pret. part., see 
3eue. 

y-nou3, see nou. 

y-slawe, v., pret. part., see 
slo. 

ywis, adv., see wis. 



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